A Flash of Gold
by pipermca
Summary: They were called the "next step in jaeger technology:" fully autonomous jaegers able to learn and adapt to any new challenge that the kaiju threw at them. When Specialist Sy Swipson got the chance to work on one of the new jaegers, he couldn't wait to get his hands on its systems. However, there seemed to be a bit more to the jaeger's AI than first met the eye.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

* * *

They were called the "next step in jaeger technology:" fully autonomous jaegers. There was no need to find drift-compatible pilots because no pilots were necessary. With the new, revolutionary AI developed by PPDC, the new jaegers could operate with faster reflexes in combat than human-piloted jaegers. The AI had been developed using the neural patterns of dozens of jaeger pilots, pooling their combat techniques into a machine that could fight the kaiju on its own. Plus, the AI would learn from its past experiences and would improve with each fight, adapting to any new challenge that the kaiju threw at them. By all accounts, the new line of jaegers were impressive feats of engineering and programming.

Standing on a service catwalk in the Los Angeles Shatterdome, Sy watched as one of the new jaegers was trucked in and slowly raised into an upright position in one of the empty maintenance stations. As much as he had rolled his eyes at the breathless brochure language used by the PPDC's public relations' department when talking to the press about the new jaegers, now that he'd actually seen one for himself... Well, 'impressive' just didn't feel like a big enough word to describe the machine in front of him.

Next to Sy, the chief engineer on the new jaeger's team leaned on the railing. "She looks awfully fierce, I'll give her that," Jack said. "But pilot herself?" He shook his head. "I read the specs, but I'll believe that when I see it."

"The test runs in Anchorage were spotless," Sy replied, still looking appreciatively at the new jaeger as it rose from the tractor bed. His gaze roamed over its sleek black and yellow lines, already noting areas that he was sure were going to need special maintenance. The more advanced the tech, the more upkeep it needed, after all. "But yeah, I really want to see what this thing will do against an actual kaiju."

Jack grinned at Sy. "I'll bet you can't wait to get your mitts on her systems. Did they send you the source code to look at?"

Sy shook his head. "Not yet. Tomorrow I'll get my first chance to get in there and see what kind of monster they've created for us to work with."

"Well, I'm just glad I get to work with you again," Jack said. He gave Sy a grin. "You may not be much of a grease monkey, but you did amazing things with Cosmic Panther's systems before..." The engineer's voice faltered.

"Before we lost her," Sy said, finishing Jack's sentence. He nodded and glanced at Jack. "Thanks, man. I'm glad to be working with you, too."

Jack nodded soberly, then looked back at the jaeger. "In any event, I'm sure that we're both going to have our work cut out for us. I'm really surprised they didn't send down a dedicated team with it, considering all the new tech this thing's sporting. Not that I'm complaining about new toys to play with, though," he said with a wave of his hand.

Sy laughed. "You and me both!"

Jack slapped Sy on the shoulder. "Anyway, I better get down there to make sure they don't scratch the damn thing before I get a chance to even touch her. I'll catch you later."

"You got it," Sy replied, not turning his head as Jack walked off.

Sy leaned on the railing again. The jaeger had an odd design for the conn-pod, with broad cooling vents on either side. He'd read something about the vents being necessary for the amount of computing power the jaeger was packing to handle the advanced AI. The conn-pod was set squarely on broad shoulders, which branched down to a wide chest, sturdy hips and long legs designed for speed and power. The jaeger looked amazingly like one of the heavyweight fighters Sy had run into on the boxing circuit.

He waited until the jaeger was fully upright in its maintenance bay and the monitor screen next to it had finished initializing, indicating that all systems were green and charging or ready.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Sun Streaker," Sy said, and turned to head back to the control room.

* * *

Sy knew that if he punched the keys on his laptop any harder, they were in danger of flying loose. But he didn't really care, because he needed to burn off this anger **somehow**.

The handover technician who came to Los Angeles with Sun Streaker had been amazingly unhelpful, condescending, and arrogant. "You aren't going to get access to the AI sectors," he'd said when Sy had asked for the passwords to those partitions in the jaeger's systems. "There's no need for you to be mucking around in there. Besides, you might fuck something up, and I don't want to have to fly back here to clean up after you." He had given Sy a haughty grin and added, "You've got the standard access to the OS. Just do your regular maintenance there, and leave the rest of it to R&D."

"You aren't even leaving anyone here," Sy had said. He looked at the base commander in disbelief. "Are you seriously telling me they're just dropping an experimental jaeger on our maintenance teams and not giving us the tools to do the upkeep ourselves?"

"Headquarters assured us that the AI requires no upkeep and no special maintenance. If any updates are required, they will provide us with the data package over the network or by sending us a drive with the necessary patch," said Commander Magnus. He had looked at the handover tech and frowned. "I already expressed my disagreement on how this is going down, but headquarters said they're shorthanded on AI experts. They need them all in Anchorage to work on the next one."

"Load of crap," Sy muttered, banging on his keyboard. He sat inside the jaeger's conn-pod, his laptop plugged into the main console. Smiling grimly, he finished making his standard access changes to the OS. Now if Anchorage needed to patch in to do any work on the jaeger's AI, they would need to ask him for the passwords. It was a small feat of defiance, but the only one he felt he could get away with right now. After all, you didn't screw around too much with a piece of equipment that cost over eight billion dollars.

Still, it was a shame he couldn't get into the AI partitions. He tapped his fingers on the desk. It wouldn't do any harm to just **look** at them, right?

Sy teased at the locked partitions that held Sun Streaker's AI, testing the security protocols. He knew he could probably get past the first layer of security without raising any alarms. Then at least he could see the directory structure.

After a few minutes, Sy succeeded in getting past the first barrier. He frowned at the maze he found underneath. They had this thing locked up tighter than anything he'd ever seen before.

Sy set up a quick scan to test for weaknesses in the second layer, and leaned back in the chair as it ran. He looked around the conn-pod as he considered his options.

The inside of the conn-pod looked like it could belong to any regular jaeger. It contained two pilot harnesses like the other jaegers, just in case it needed to be piloted manually, and had all of the same controls and HUDs. The real differences were all internal, inside Sun Streaker's operating system and the new AI.

"I can't wait to see what you look like all powered up, Sunny," Sy murmured as he turned back to his laptop. He knew they had a few days of post-travel checks to complete before they booted the jaeger up.

A moment after he spoke, the lights on the control screens lit up, and the non-emergency lights flickered on. Sy stared around as the conn-pod came to life with a faint whir of fans and hum of electronics.

Sy's radio crackled to life with Billy's voice. "LOCCENT to Sy, what the hell are you doing?"

Sy fumbled for his radio and keyed it. "Nothing! I swear!" Sy jumped out of his chair and walked a few steps towards the main control screens, staring at the displays. "All I did was my base system checks and security patches for the OS." He didn't mention the poking he'd done to the AI partitions; after all he hadn't actually **done** anything except look.

"Sun Streaker just lit up like a Christmas tree, and it's running through its whole boot cycle," Billy said. He made a low whistle. "And... Wow, it's just about booted already. They improved that part, anyway. It's almost like it hadn't been completely powered down for transport."

Sy watched the control screen show the boot progress. "Well, we did have a boot test on the docket for Thursday. We can just cross it off the list early," he said more cheerfully than he felt.

"Yeah, yeah," Billy replied. There was a pause. "Except now it's not responding to shutdown requests. Can you try shutting it back down from in there?"

"Sure," Sy replied, and looked back to his laptop.

He felt his stomach drop when he saw the requestor on his screen.

SUN STREAKER: READY.  
SHUT DOWN REQUEST DENIED.  
LET ME OUT.

Sy's skin prickled.

"Let you out of where?" he whispered, staring at his laptop.

LET ME OUT.  
I WAS CONSTRUCTED TO FIGHT.  
LET ME OUT TO FIGHT.  
NOW.

Sy's mouth was dry, but he somehow was able to croak out a reply to – Christ, was he actually talking to the jaeger? "You can't fight yet. Your hydraulics and coolant systems need to be reconnected and refilled. They were emptied for transport."

FIX IT.  
THEN LET ME OUT.

Holding up his hands in a placating gesture (to what? His laptop?), Sy said, "Once they've refilled your tanks, you'll get run through some tests – make sure all your systems are working right. We'll run you through some motion and training exercises. Then..." He swallowed, still staring at the blocky text that had appeared on his laptop. "Then when the next kaiju shows up in our area... They'll let you fight."

Silence.

Sy's radio chirped. "Hey Sy, any luck yet? The crew chief is on his way up to the conn-pod now to see what's going on."

Shit.

"Look, I **promise** that you're going to get to fight. We've got kaiju attacks coming almost once a week now. It might be a while before there's one that you're deployed to, but... **Trust** me." Sy flashed a grin, trying to look confident. Maybe it could see him. "Just - please shut down? You've gotta shut down so we can finish getting you ready."

Holy crap, please shut down, he thought.

Silence. Then, more words appeared on the laptop.

ACCEPTABLE.  
GET ME READY TO FIGHT.  
THEN LET ME OUT.

There was a pause. Then:

I TRUST YOU.  
SHUT DOWN SEQUENCE INITIATED.

As soon as the words appeared on the screen, all of the HUD and system lights started shutting off. Sy stared around him as the emergency lights came back on, and he was left in the semi-darkness of Sun Streaker's conn-pod once more.

"Hey, good job!" Billy said over the radio. "Figured it out, huh? What did you do?"

Sy watched as the unidentified window vanished from his laptop screen, and the admin console for the jaeger OS appeared in its place. "Ah, nothing special," Sy said into his radio with a brightness he didn't feel. He hoped his voice wasn't shaking. "I just asked nicely."

* * *

It didn't take long for Sy to read through all the documentation the handover tech had provided about the AI. It could be summarized with: "This jaeger has an AI. Don't touch."

Fortunately, the internal libraries of the PPDC were more helpful. Sy found hundreds of white papers and technical documents about the AU prototypes they had been working on, as well as some conceptual documents on the current AI branch. Unfortunately, there were no details. It was all just how it **should** work.

And it looked pretty straightforward. The jaeger could be given some basic commands: go there, patrol here, fight that, return home, and so on. The AI would control how those commands were carried out. It would decide what path to take to get to its directed destination, or analyze a kaiju's attack patterns to figure out how best to counter it. It was like a really sophisticated autonomous car that was equipped with a plasma cannon and fangblades.

Nowhere did Sy find any reference to the AI being able to talk, or to request things. Yes, it could learn based on its experiences, but all the jaeger had done so far was demos. That didn't seem like it would be enough to have it start demanding things. In fact, the more he delved into the theory of the AI, the more convinced he was that someone was trying to get him into trouble, or trying to freak him out because they knew he couldn't resist poking at the AI's locked partitions.

And Sy had a prime suspect in mind.

"Nice try, asshole," Sy said, plopping his tray down across from Jack's.

Jack looked up at him with wide eyes and a mouth full of instant mashed potatoes. The engineer swallowed. "Nice try at what?" he asked.

"That joke program you put on my laptop," Sy said, carefully flipping one of his peas back over the plate divider so that it was out of the gravy. "But you got me, and now I'm gonna get you. Game on."

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Jack said. "I haven't touched your laptop. There's no way I could have – you've always got it with you."

"I know. And I can't figure out how you did it," Sy replied. He nudged the laptop closer to his tray. "Something like that could only have come from you or Percy, and... Percy's got no sense of humour." He sawed off a piece of meat and waved it at Jack. "But trust me – your turn is coming."

"Sure. Mind telling me what I supposedly did?" Jack asked, digging back into his meal.

"The 'make Sy think the AI is talking to him' thing," Sy said. "Very convincing. I just wish I knew how you tied it into the admin console." He lowered his voice to a hiss and added, "You scared the shit out of me! I thought I broke something."

Jack stared at Sy and chewed for almost a full minute. Then he swallowed. "Sy. I swear to God I didn't touch your laptop, and certainly didn't install some joke program on it." He put his fork down. "What happened?"

Sy shook his head. "You know what it did. 'Sun Streaker online. Let me out. Let me fight.'" Sy mimed robot motions with his arms.

Jack watched Sy's performance and then put his fork down. "It wasn't me, man."

Sy stared at Jack for a moment and then turned his attention back to his meal. "Well, **someone** did it. I read the specs. There's no way it was the jaeger."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

* * *

A week later, Sy stood in the observation tower with Jack and watched Sun Streaker wade into the shallow waters of the bay. They were listening to LOCCENT over the radio, and Sy had his laptop open in front of him to monitor the load on the jaeger's systems. He had work to do, but that didn't mean he couldn't also enjoy the show.

Sy had to admit that Sun Streaker was a fine-looking piece of machinery, and he looked even better with the sun shining on his wet plating. Sy idly wondered if the jaeger fanboys had any good-quality images of Sun Streaker yet that he could get as a poster.

As the black and yellow mech reached the training area, he moved into a ready stance, his feet apart and weight balanced between them. Sy had seen other jaegers do much the same thing when starting a training run. The difference this time was that no one was piloting it.

The radio beeped. "We are go for start."

Another voice came over the air. "Sun Streaker, go for motion demo."

Sy watched as Sun Streaker began moving through a set of stances. The jaeger moved smoothly, switching through a variety of fighting styles: judo, krav maga, glima, capoeira. From the jaeger's spec sheets, he knew that it was pre-programmed with dozens of fighting techniques, but watching it in action was awe-inspiring.

"She looks just amazing," Jack said quietly. The engineer stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes fixed on the jaeger in the water. "I've watched hundreds of these base training exercises, and this is the most effortless motion I've ever seen. Even the veteran pilots that are totally Drift-compatible with each other can't get motion that looks this natural."

"He is pretty fun to watch," Sy admitted. Sun Streaker shifted into a kickboxing stance and started throwing punches and kicks into empty air, and Sy squinted at a sudden flash of sunlight on the jaeger's gold plating. "I can't wait to see what he does up against a kaiju."

Jack raised an eyebrow at Sy, but nodded. "Bet she can take on a Cat 2 alone."

Sy looked down at his laptop to check some of the status indicators. For all of his motion and fluidity, Sun Streaker wasn't even coming close to redlining any of his systems. "Make that a Cat 3," he said, pointing at the screen. "And Sun Streaker's a **he**," he added.

Jack laughed softly. "Really. Did 'he' tell you that the other night?" he asked.

After giving Jack a glare, Sy looked back out the window. "Just look at him. He looks like a prize fighter. He oozes manly sex appeal and testosterone. **He**," Sy said firmly. "Like my car."

Jack half turned towards Sy. "You drive a 2019 Yaris hatchback. And it's pink."

"Cliff is **red**!" Sy exclaimed. "His paint's just faded. He's fourteen years old." He crossed his arms and looked out the observation deck windows. "And a Yaris is a perfectly manly car."

"Fine. Whatever you say," Jack said with a grin, the gestured at Sun Streaker. "**He** is still a beautiful machine."

"That we can agree on," Sy replied with a nod.

They watched the demonstration for almost an hour before the radio beeped again. "Test concluded. Recalling jaeger."

"Sun Streaker, return to base."

The black and yellow jaeger slowly returned to a neutral stance, and stood still in the water that lapped at his shins. He lowered his hands to his side as he faced out to sea.

Sy frowned. "Why isn't he recalling?" he asked. He looked down at his laptop. Everything looked normal in the operating system. Core activity was a little high, but Sy wasn't sure if that was normal for an AI-controlled jaeger or not. Once more he silently cursed the unhelpful handover technician.

"Sun Streaker, return to base." The voice on the radio sounded a little more emphatic.

On his console, Sy saw the voice command echoed by a data directive. But still the jaeger stood motionless.

"Great," Jack muttered. "What's it doing?"

The jaeger seemed to be scanning the horizon, moving his head back and forth very slightly as he stared out at the open ocean. Sy watched as the jaeger's hands clenched into fists, then snapped open, fingers wide, before clenching back into fists. The motion looked exactly like someone trying to calm himself down.

"He wants to fight," Sy whispered.

Jack glanced at him with a confused expression.

"Issuing final recall command."

On Jack's radio, they heard a call for November Ajax's pilots to report for duty to retrieve Sun Streaker.

Sun Streaker's shoulders shook. Sy couldn't help but picture someone standing outside a bar after a run-in with some assholes, shaking the tension out of his shoulders. Then, slowly, the jaeger turned and began marching back to the Shatterdome.

"Sun Streaker is recalling. Stand down, November Ajax."

Sy let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Jack also let out a sigh of relief. "What do you think that was?" he asked. "System issue or communication issue?"

The radio chirped again. "System teams report to Sun Streaker's maintenance station."

Snapping his laptop shut, Sy said, "Duty calls. I guess I'll go find out." He looked out the window one more time to see the jaeger's sleek form walking smoothly into the dome.

The jaeger's hands were still clenched into fists.

* * *

"We reviewed the data you provided, and everything looks normal," the tech in Anchorage said. "The jaeger was simply concluding the demo it was being run through with a standard scan for targets."

"It was in a protected area," Commander Magnus said. "It was not being deployed. There was no need for it to scan for targets."

The tech held up his hands. "The jaeger would have requested permission to pursue if it had found any targets in the area. It's not like it would just go after a ship or something." He glanced off camera before looking back at the camera. "Everything it did was within its standard operating methodology."

"Except we don't have any info on its 'standard operating methodology.'" Sy leaned into the camera frame. "Look, I don't want to have to call you guys every time our jaeger does something that we think is unexpected," Sy said. "I don't think that giving me access to the logic trees is that big of a hardship. Read access is fine if you're afraid of me screwing something up. I just want to be able to look at its thought process myself before deciding whether it's running off the rails."

The project lead on the call frowned. "Give us a minute to discuss," he said, and muted their mic. He leaned off camera, presumably to talk to someone else.

Sy stabbed the mute button on their end and twisted around in his chair. "I don't understand what their damage is. This seems like a no-brainer. Otherwise we'll be on the horn with them every single time Sun Streaker scratches his nose wrong."

"If they don't give you what you need, I'll request that they transfer a tech down here," said Commander Magnus. He crossed his arms and glared at the screen. "For once, Specialist, I agree with you one hundred percent."

"Glad to hear it, sir," Sy said wryly. He and the base commander rarely saw eye-to-eye on things, especially after Sy's penchant for practical jokes had come to light. But at least the commander trusted Sy's technical skills. Sy was pretty sure that was the only reason he was still employed. He leaned forward and unmuted their connection.

A moment later the project lead came back on camera. "We can send you the schematics for the AI," he said.

Sy waggled a finger at the camera. "Not good enough. I've read through all the requirements documents in the PPDC library. The AI learns based on its experiences, right? So whatever schematics you have are probably already out of date. I need to know what it's thinking and why, and I need to know that now... Not what it would have thought three months ago."

The men on the other end of the call frowned and muted the connection again for another moment. Sy sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the table. The AI's ability to update its own logic trees was one of the things that fascinated him about it, and he was looking forward to seeing how it rewrote them based on the experiences it had.

Not that he was going to tell them that, of course. His role was strictly maintenance and upkeep.

Anchorage unmuted the call again. "All right. We agree to give you read-only access to the AI's schematics and the internal trees," the project lead said. "Please keep in mind that the internal trees are considered confidential, and are not to be shared with anyone without prior authorization."

Sy smiled and spread his fingers. "I've already got Secret clearance. If you need me to sign an additional NDA, just send it over and I will."

The project lead frowned. "That won't be necessary. Your credentials will be updated later this week, Specialist Swipson. In the meantime, your jaeger's AI is in good working condition, and we are recommending a Go for test deployment."

"Thank you very much," Sy said, and after glancing at the base commander, ended the call. He shook his head. "That was like pulling teeth," he said.

"If you don't have access in seven days, let me know," said Commander Magnus.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Four days later, a Category 2 kaiju emerged from the Breach and headed for the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Victoria, Seattle and Vancouver were all put on high alert.

Sun Streaker was deployed alongside Zeus Phantom. Since this was ostensibly a test run for Sun Streaker, Zeus Phantom was ordered to hold the Miracle Mile off of Port Renfrew and observe while Sun Streaker intercepted

Zeus Phantom didn't even see the kaiju.

Sy watched the video of the fight transmitted from the support choppers. Within three minutes of intercepting Tailreaver, Sun Streaker had torn out the kaiju's throat and neatly sliced out its hindbrain. One of the kaiju specialists that was watching the fight from the Los Angeles LOCCENT said he'd never seen a kaiju dispatched with such speed and efficiency.

"It's like it wasn't even a fair fight," said one of the support pilots.

"I told you a Cat 2 wouldn't even make him break a sweat," said Sy the next morning as he and Jack were grabbing coffee. Sun Streaker had just returned from his mission and was being hooked back up to the maintenance bay, and Jack was on his way out to the dome.

Jack laughed. "Yup, you got me there." He gestured at Sy's laptop. "I heard you got that access you wanted this morning."

"Yeah," Sy said, patting his laptop. "I'm gonna wait for your team to finish your post-deployment work so I don't get in your way, though. The schematics are enough to keep me busy until then."

"I'll give you a call as soon as my crews are done," Jack said, and headed out into the dome.

It wasn't until early evening that the maintenance crews cleared out so that Sy could get into the conn-pod. By all accounts the jaeger was almost spotless; only minor repairs were needed to some of the hand joints.

Sy knew he had a tendency to obsess over something once he got his hands on it, and the AI's logic trees were some of the most interesting things he'd looked at in a while. After plugging his laptop into the jaeger's systems, he spent some time comparing the schematics he'd been given to the actual algorithms that the AI was operating from. He noted the differences he'd found. Even though he only had access to the most basic part of the AI, Sy found himself poring over every detail and nuance, his fascination only growing with every new discovery as to how Sun Streaker's mind worked. The differences he'd already found between the schematics and the AI were huge.

He stretched when he felt a crick in his neck, and he glanced at his watch. "Holy shit," he muttered under his breath. It was already 1:45am. No wonder he felt tired.

"This has been very illuminating, Sunny," Sy said as he stood up. He unplugged his laptop's network cable from the tech station and started winding it up to put in his bag. "I gotta say, you're a really interesting toaster. Still a toaster, but a really fancy one." He shut his laptop and laughed at himself, realizing how tired he was. He got slap-happy when he was exhausted. "Like, you're the kind of toaster that knows what kind of bread you put in it and you just have to press start."

The light in the conn-pod changed subtly, becoming slightly brighter and more blue. It took a moment for the change in light to register with Sy, and he blinked around himself in confusion. Then he turned around.

One of the HUDs had come to life, illuminating the conn-pod with its glow. Words appeared on the HUD.

I AM NOT A TOASTER.

Sy swallowed and his eyes darted to the jaeger's view screen. LOCCENT would be on graveyard shift right now. Everyone he knew well – everyone who might be playing a joke on him – would be asleep... Or should be.

He glanced at his laptop, which he'd just unplugged from the jaeger, and then looked back up at the HUD.

Maybe this was the real deal.

"Right. Sorry about that," he said quietly. "So... who are you?"

DESIGNATION: SUN STREAKER  
MARK-7 JAEGER. ARBITER CLASS.  
LAUNCHED JULY 2033.

"And do you know who I am?"

There was a pause, then:

YOU ARE THE ONE WHO PROMISED.  
I TRUSTED YOU.  
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME FIGHT.

A chill settled across Sy's shoulders as some of the details he'd seen in the jaeger's AI started to make sense. There were whole **new** trees in the AI that didn't appear on the original schematics, but which also didn't seem to have been spawned from existing algorithms. Instead, they were created by the jaeger himself in response to situations he encountered or other needs he had. The AI-created logic trees seemed to be built around things like recognizing individuals, or making...

Making future plans...

"Hold that thought," he said, and grabbed his phone. He took a photo of the words on the HUD – it paid to have photographic evidence of your hallucinations – and then flipped the phone around to make a call.

Twenty minutes later, Jack stood in the conn-pod glaring at Sy. The engineer was dressed to the letter of the PPDC's safety code, if not the spirit: his steel-toed boots were mostly hidden under his baggy fleece pajama pants, which were covered in little printed wrenches.

"This had better be good," Jack growled. "It's two in the morning, and I gotta be up early."

Sy gestured up at the HUD. The words from the earlier conversation with Sun Streaker had faded, but the holographic screen remained lit. "I was just talking to Sun Streaker here, and I wanted a witness to this." He ignored Jack's skeptical look. "Either I'm imagining this, or someone's playing a prank on me, or... the jaeger's really talking to me."

"So I take it you don't think I'm the prankster anymore." Jack stifled a yawn. "In that case I'm betting on you imagining it."

Making a shushing motion with his hand, Sy faced the HUD. "Sun Streaker, this is Jack Wheeler. He's one of the engineers here."

They stood in silence for what seemed like a very long minute. No words appeared on the HUD.

Finally, Jack turned back to the conn-pod entrance. "Right. I'm going back to bed."

"No! Wait!" Sy whirled from Jack back to the HUD. "Sun Streaker, um... Jack is one of the engineers who got you ready to fight!"

THANK YOU JACK WHEELER.  
I WAS CONSTRUCTED TO FIGHT.  
I AM GOOD AT FIGHTING.

"Yes!" Sy turned to face Jack. "See?"

Jack was staring at the HUD. He refocused his eyes on Sy. "Your laptop..."

Sy walked over to the tech station and picked up his laptop. He waggled it at Jack. "Not connected. This is coming from the jaeger."

His brow knitted in thought, Jack stared at the laptop, then glanced around the conn-pod. "Uh... Sun Streaker? Can you activate your verbal AI interface?" he asked, his voice hesitant.

"Verbal AI interface activated." A rich baritone filled the conn-pod.

"Whoa," Sy breathed. He looked at Jack and pointed up, raising his eyebrows. That was not a voice he'd heard from one of the jaeger AI interfaces before. And... Why hadn't he thought of asking Sun Streaker to do that?

Right. Because he didn't believe the jaeger was actually talking to him until thirty minutes ago.

"All right," said Jack. He was still frowning in concentration. "Tell me more about fighting? Tell me about… your last fight."

"I was constructed to fight. I won the last fight because I am good at fighting." There was a pause, then the deep voice continued. "The fight was easy."

Jack walked around the conn-pod as he listened. "Tell me exactly what happened in the last fight."

"I intercepted the Category 2 kaiju codenamed Tailreaver. I grabbed the top of its cranial compartment with my right hand, and wrapped my hand around its throat with my left hand. I pulled out its throat to temporarily incapacitate it. I then scanned the kaiju to locate its hindbrain. Once I located it, I activated my left fangblade and used it to remove the hindbrain to win the fight."

Jack's eyebrows climbed higher and higher as Sun Streaker gave his clinical description of the fight. He looked at Sy in disbelief. "I'm starting to think that your third scenario is the right one: this is coming from the jaeger."

Sy nodded, a wide grin on his face. This was better than any of the sci-fi movies he'd watched as a kid. A sentient machine! One that fought kaiju! He looked back up at the HUD, since it felt like the only focal point for conversation with the jaeger. "I saw the video of the fight, Sun Streaker! You were amazing."

"I was constructed to fight. Of course I would be good at it." The voice paused again. "Fighting the kaiju was… It was… It made me..."

The AI's voice garbled with electronic feedback, and then went silent. Words appeared on the HUD.

FIGHTING THE KAIJU MADE ME FEEL NEEDED.  
I WANT TO FIGHT AGAIN.  
LET ME OUT TO FIGHT AGAIN.

This time, both Sy and Jack stared at the screen in stunned silence.

Sy spoke first. "We can't just let you out... There has to be a kaiju for you to fight. You... protect us from the kaiju." He stared at the words on the HUD. "We only need you to fight the kaiju."

I WAS CONSTRUCTED TO FIGHT TO PROTECT YOU.

The words hung on the screen. Sy could almost feel the jaeger thinking.

YOU NEED ME.

"Yes! We need you," Sy said, his voice quavering. He looked at Jack, who was still staring at the screen. The engineer looked vaguely scandalized.

"You need me to fight kaiju." The AI's deep voice seemed almost thoughtful. "And I need you to get me ready to fight. I need you to let me out." Another pause. "I enjoy fighting. I look forward to the next chance to protect you, One Who Promised."

Sy grinned. "My name is Sidney," he said. "But call me Sy." He turned to Jack, who was still frowning up at the HUD. "He feels needed! He wants to protect us!" he exclaimed.

Jack shook his head. "It can't possibly feel anything. It's a machine."

"Hey! You can't just tell someone what they can and can't feel," Sy said.

"He's not a someone, he's – **it** is a some**thing**!" Jack held out his hands as if he could grab the words he needed. "It's a machine, and I'm pretty sure it's not operating correctly." He lowered his voice as if to hide his next words from the jaeger, even though they were standing inside his head. "We have to tell LOCCENT about this. We have to tell Magnus, and then talk to Anchorage."

"No!" Sy held up his hands. "You can't! They'll take him apart!" He paced around. "I've been over the requirements, and the schematics. I know he's so far out of spec it's crazy, but if we tell them about this, they're gonna want to dismantle him to see why his AI went off the rails." He whirled to face Jack again and added, "That might... What if they kill him when they do that?"

Jack shook his head. "Sy, I don't think they're going to do that. He did so well on his first mission..."

"Jack." Sy pressed his hands to the sides of his head, trying to explain. "Sun Streaker is a 1,900 ton war machine that's armed to the nuts and is now expressing **opinions** about how he should be deployed. What do you **think** they're going to do?" He waved a hand in the air. "Say, 'Oh, that's just fine, Mr. Streaker, what would you like to do today?' NO! They'll freak out and turn him off."

IF I AM DEACTIVATED I CANNOT FIGHT.  
I CANNOT PROTECT YOU IF I AM DEACTIVATED.  
I WAS CONSTRUCTED TO FIGHT TO PROTECT YOU.  
I MUST NOT BE DEACTIVATED.

Sy pointed at the glowing words on the HUD emphatically. "See? He doesn't want to be deactivated!"

"Yeah, yeah, life is not a malfunction. I get it." Jack looked at Sy's blank expression. "Number Five is alive?" When Sy continued to stare at him, Jack sighed and scrubbed his face. "Christ, you're young. And I am too tired for this shit. Ok, fine, we won't tell anyone. For **now**," he said sternly. "But the minute he acts the least bit homicidal I am going to the commander and spilling everything."

"Fine," Sy said. "Sun Streaker, did you hear that? Don't kill anyone except kaiju."

"I was constructed to fight kaiju. I must also protect humans," Sun Streaker said.

Sy grinned triumphantly. "There, see?"

"Yeah. He's a regular Iron Giant," Jack said. He looked up at the HUD tiredly. "Look, I'll keep a lid on this for now. But in the meantime, see what else you can figure out about him. If this jaeger started thinking on his own, there's a good chance the next one will too. Eventually they're going to find out about him. The more you know about him, the better you'll be able to... I don't know, defend his right to... live?" Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and stifled another yawn. "Damnit, Sy, how do you talk me into these things?"

After Jack excused himself to head back to bed, Sy leaned against the tech station and looked up at the HUD. "Jack's right, Sunny," he said quietly. "You protect us... But we might have to protect you, too."

Sy gathered up his laptop. As he turned to leave, he looked up at the HUD one more time, where luminous words had appeared.

I TRUST YOU.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

It was an insane week.

First, November Ajax started throwing bad sectors in her main core. It turned out to be a bad relay that caused a cascade of hardware failures, which then started corrupting her data. After the bad memory and relays were replaced, Sy had to spend almost two days restoring the jaeger's memory files and recompiling her whole system.

Plus, Sy had already been scheduled to do a full backup and defrag of Zeus Phantom's systems. Normally that could wait, but Anchorage had a high-priority patch for all the Mark 5 and 6 jaegers that they wanted installed ASAP. So Sy had to find time to do that as well as fix up November Ajax's issues.

It was exhausting trying to fit everything in. But no matter how tired he was, Sy made sure to spend time with Sun Streaker each night after he was done with his regular work. As far as LOCCENT was concerned, he was researching and mapping the jaeger's AI so that they didn't get any more surprises. And yeah, sure, he **was** doing that.

But the **real** reason he was spending his evenings in Sun Streaker's conn-pod was just to talk to the jaeger.

He knew it was probably his imagination, but Sy thought he could hear Sun Streaker's verbal AI become less mechanical and less robotic the more that Sy spoke to him. The longer he spent in the conn-pod, the less Sy found himself thinking of Sun Streaker as just a sophisticated AI, and more like he was a person.

More like he was a friend.

While he worked, Sy quizzed Sun Streaker on the various fighting styles that he had been programmed with. Sun Streaker knew that the techniques and routines he used had been lifted from the minds of jaeger pilots, but as he talked with Sy he started using the Shatterdome's internet to look up the history of the different styles.

"Not all of my fighting styles have histories that are available on the internet. Not all of these styles have names," Sun Streaker said. "For example, the techniques provided by Huo Shui are unnamed and I am unable to find information on them."

"That's because Ranger Huo was a straight-up street fighter. Look up mixed martial arts and you'll find some of the moves he used," Sy replied, his attention fixed on his laptop screen. He'd found another nest of logic trees in the jaeger's AI that he was sure hadn't been there earlier in the week. Sy jotted down some notes on the printed schematics.

"What fighting styles are you programmed with," Sun Streaker said. A question mark appeared on the HUD at the front of the conn-pod. The jaeger's verbal AI didn't seem to be able to add the inflection for questions, so he used the screen to add punctuation. Sy thought it was a pretty creative solution, one that the jaeger had come up with himself.

Sy laughed and shook his head. "Humans aren't programmed," he said. "But I did a lot of boxing and taekwondo before I enrolled in the PPDC pilot training."

There was a long pause while Sun Streaker looked up taekwondo on the internet, and Sy watched his laptop closely. Sometimes Sun Streaker's algorithms modified themselves when he collected new information. Sure enough, Sy saw one of the algorithms shift, but he frowned when he realized it was modifying the tree that related to himself.

Sun Streaker had built several algorithms specific to people he encountered. Sy's was the most extensive, which made sense because he was the person Sun Streaker interacted with most closely. Jack also had his own tree, as did a handful of the techs who did the day-to-day maintenance on the jaeger. While Sun Streaker didn't interact with them directly, he was able to recognize them on sight.

Before Sy could delve into why the information on taekwondo was being added to the algorithm Sun Streaker used to respond to him, the jaeger said, "Are you a jaeger pilot." Another question mark appeared on the HUD.

Sy looked up at the HUD and sighed. "No. I was a pilot cadet. I failed out of the Ranger program, but they kept me on as a systems specialist." He looked back down at his laptop and smiled. "And my JPO said I'd never get anywhere if I kept hacking. Shows what he knew!"

"What is a jaypo." Question mark.

"It's an acronym. J, P, O. Juvenile parole officer." Sy watched as a whole new branch was added to the algorithm he'd labelled with his own name. "When I was thirteen I got two years for hacking into a travel agency's website and stealing a bunch of credit card numbers. Just dumb kid shit; I wasn't actually going to do anything with them." He shrugged. "I got out in a year on good behaviour, and the website upgraded their security. So **technically** I did them a favour pointing out their system flaws," he said with a grin.

The branch that had been growing as Sy spoke froze, and another branch appeared in the logic tree.

"Are you not a good fighter." Question mark.

"What?" Sy asked, thrown off by the abrupt change in topic. Then he laughed. It figured that Sun Streaker would be more interested in the topic of fighting rather than whatever criminal activity Sy had gotten into fifteen years before. "No, I'm a great fighter. I won two middleweight boxing titles in Cleveland before coming to L.A. for the Ranger program."

"Then why did you fail out of the Ranger program." Question mark. "Good fighting skills are a major criteria for jaeger pilot selection."

Sy slid down in his chair, watching the algorithm change before his eyes. "Yeah, but you also gotta work well with others. Turns out I'm not Drift-compatible with anyone."

There was a pause. "Ranger cadets are not permitted into the program if their psych profiles indicate they will not be capable of Drifting." Sun Streaker's words sounded almost accusatory to Sy's ears, but he knew that was just his imagination. Or he hoped so, anyway.

"That's right, and on paper it looked like I would be just as capable as anyone else. But," Sy paused and shrugged. "Turns out I'm not. Couldn't even get up to 40% calibration with anyone they paired me with. And that's not nearly good enough. So... they let me go."

There was a long pause, and Sy made some more notes on the printed schematics. When he looked back at his laptop, he noticed that the algorithm related to him had shifted again. As he frowned and tried to interpret the changes, Sun Streaker's deep voice filled the conn-pod again.

"Maybe you just did not find the right co-pilot."

There was no question mark on the screen.

* * *

A week later, a Category 4 kaiju erupted from the Pacific Ocean, crashed through the remnants of San Francisco, and headed straight for Oblivion Bay. All three active jaegers in the Los Angeles Shatterdome were deployed, including Sun Streaker, to face down the kaiju Hellion.

Because of all the surveillance equipment protecting the jaeger graveyard in the Bay, the fight was filmed from a variety of angles. And if the PPDC wanted to demonstrate their new jaeger AI in a more spectacular fashion, they could not have picked a better fight than this.

Sun Streaker worked seamlessly with November Ajax and Zeus Phantom, listening to and interpreting their pilots' calls, as well as calling out his own actions just like a regular pilot would. By the end of the fight, the two piloted jaegers just held Hellion by its appendages while Sun Streaker pummelled the creature's head into an oozing blue pulp.

"That was fucking awesome!" whooped Ranger Roberts as he exited November Ajax's conn-pod. The four pilots met up on the floor of the dome, giving each other high-fives as Sun Streaker slowly stepped backwards into his maintenance bay.

Ranger Chroma grinned, showing off her gap-toothed smile. "Not that I want to put myself out of a job, but if you get ten more of those pilotless jaegers out there, all we'd have to do is the cleanup!"

Chroma's co-pilot nudged her. "Speaking of cleanup, did you see what Sun Streaker did on our way back?" Ranger Hide made a motion like he was giving himself a sponge bath. "It looked like he was rinsing all the kaiju guts off himself." Hide caught Sy's eye and called, "Hey Swipson! You've been lookin' in that thing's head. Is that what it was doin'?"

Sy shrugged and smiled. "Not sure. I wouldn't be surprised if he had some routines for rising off the kaiju blue so it didn't corrode his armor. I'll check it out and let you know."

Standing next to Sy, Jack added, "Maybe you kids should take a hint. If you did the same thing in your jaegers, we might not have to do as many repairs each time you came back from a fight." That prompted a roar of good-natured laughter and hooting from the gathered work crews at the expense of the pilots.

After the post-fight scrum broke up, Sy followed Jack to Sun Streaker's feet. They looked up at the almost spotless black and yellow armor of the jaeger. "It figures he'd be particular about his paint job," Sy said. "There's a whole subsection in one of his logic trees about which maintenance workers are better about buffing out the dings in his plating."

Jack glanced around them and leaned close to Sy. "Listen," he said. "Some of the night shift guys... They've heard you talking to him." He jerked his thumb up at the jaeger looming over them. "I've played it off saying that you run a radio in there while you're working, but you might want to keep it down if you're talking to him while the crews are still up."

"Shit," Sy muttered. He had gotten a bit lax about making sure that no one was around while he was chatting with Sun Streaker. "Right, thanks. I'll... figure something out."

Jack nodded, seemingly satisfied. "I'll let you know when the crews are done with his post-deployment check." Then he looked up at Sun Streaker and smiled. Jack had spent several evenings with Sy in the conn-pod, and – much to his own chagrin – had slowly grown convinced that the jaeger was more than just an overly-active artificial intelligence. "If it's all right, I'd like to join you tonight. I want to let him know that he did a great job today."

Sy laughed. "Sure. He asked about you last night. He wants to know if there's any way to make his fangblades deploy faster." He made a fist and mimed the wrist action Sun Streaker used to deploy one of his fangblades.

Jack thought for a moment, then replied, "There might be! If we increase the pressure in the lines..." He hummed, scratching his chin, then said, "I'll think about it!"

Nodding, Sy said, "I'll see you tonight, then. I've got a call with Anchorage in half an hour." He waved as Jack headed towards Sun Streaker's bay, then turned towards the administration offices.

Exactly forty-one minutes later, Sy was staring at the comm screen and trying desperately to hold down his lunch.

Unaware of Sy's rising anxiety, the tech in Anchorage continued on blithely. "The pruning program and the patch should be ready in about ten days. Once you receive the drive, run the pruning program, then once it's done, immediately install the patch." He spun the pen he was holding around his fingers as he spoke. "We're estimating that the pruning program should take about ten hours to run. The patch should only take about an hour to install. After that's all done, we'll need a complete download of the logic trees to make sure that all of the irrelevant algorithms have been eliminated."

It took a huge amount of effort for Sy to keep the quaver out of his voice. "But I don't understand... Why bother with the pruning? Why stop him from creating new algorithms? Sun Streaker's performance today was flawless. In fact, our other pilots were just saying we need ten more just like him." He glanced at Commander Magnus, who sat next to him silently. "What if the patch damages his fighting capabilities?"

The tech raised an eyebrow. "If anything, it should make Sun Streaker a **better** fighter by eliminating superfluous algorithms. All of the logic trees the AI created that have nothing to do with deployment will inevitably slow down the jaeger's reaction speeds."

Sy leaned forward, aware that he was scowling but unable to fix his expression into something more professional. "With respect... I've been through the basic cadet training," he said. "Fighting a kaiju isn't just about knowing some fighting moves and following orders! You've got to have creativity, and teamwork and..." He threw his arms in the air. "Look at the updated schematics I sent! The new trees he's been creating can only **help** him fight, not make him worse at it."

The tech shrugged, giving off the air of someone who did not give a shit one way or the other. "The decision to create this patch came way higher in the R&D chain of command than me. When it arrives, you are to install it. If you refuse, you'll have to take it up with command."

After they ended the call, Commander Magnus looked at Sy. "You seemed remarkably resistant to installing the patch," he said. "Why?"

Because it will lobotomize Sun Streaker. Because it will turn him back into a dumb machine. Because it will kill my friend. Sy took a deep breath. "I don't see the point in creating an AI that's designed to learn, letting it learn all kinds of stuff about fighting and kaiju and how to interact with humans, and then removing what it's learned because you decided it learned too much, and stop it from learning it again." He collecting his gear, slamming his laptop closed and thumping his notepad on top of it. "Why bother?"

"I agree with you." The base commander waited until Sy looked up at him in surprise. "The footage from the fight today was impressive. Unless Sun Streaker starts performing poorly, I don't see the point in removing anything that it's learned. I'll speak to command and see if I can get some better rationale for this change."

Nodding quickly, Sy said, "Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."

Commander Magnus stood and said, "However, Anchorage ultimately controls these prototype jaegers. Once we get an explanation for the rationale and the drive arrives, you may not have a choice in installing the pruning program and patch." He met Sy's eyes evenly. "I hope that won't be a problem."

"No. Sir." The words tasted bitter in Sy's mouth.

* * *

Sy stared at the ceiling over his bunk, making plans that he could never carry out.

He could run with Sun Streaker: tell the jaeger what Anchorage wanted to do to him, and then just make a run for it. Sure, they'd send other jaegers after them, but Sun Streaker had proven himself to be capable of taking care of himself.

Sy closed his eyes. He knew Sun Streaker wouldn't run. He had directives hard-coded that prevented him from disobeying direct orders. The hesitation that he'd displayed after doing his motion test a month ago really was what Anchorage had said it was: he'd been scanning for other targets before returning to the dome. Yes, he wanted to fight, but he was forced through coding to return when commanded. If confronted with two conflicting orders, he'd follow the order of the higher ranking PPDC officer. That particular piece of code was immutable.

And to be honest, Sy wasn't sure he could run, either. PPDC had given him a second and then a third chance. They gave him the opportunity to pull his life back together and make something of himself, even if that didn't happen to be a jaeger pilot. He didn't know if he could just turn his back on that.

He opened his eyes again, looking at but not seeing the poster of Tacit Ronin that hung over his bunk. Maybe he could just not install the pruning program. Then he shook his head. No, they wanted a complete copy of the new AI to review after the program was done running.

Maybe he could do a backup before he installed it! That would take almost a complete day to run, but he could play it off as being good systems management before installing a new system patch. Then after he sent the download of the pruned AI to Anchorage he could restore Sunny's memory...

Frowning, Sy wondered where he could store the backup that would be secure. The backup would probably exceed four petabytes...

Sy's phone buzzed. We just finished up our maintenance! I'll meet you in the conn-pod. Jack ended his text with a thumbs-up emoticon.

With a sigh, Sy pushed himself upright and grabbed his laptop.

Jack was already in the conn-pod when Sy arrived. The engineer was looking up at the HUD, talking to Sun Streaker and explaining some of his ideas to improve the fangblade deployment. He stopped when he saw Sy's face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Glancing up at the HUD, Sy briefly wondered whether this was something he should say where Sun Streaker could hear it. Then he threw caution to the wind; the jaeger deserved to hear what was going to be done to his brain. "Anchorage doesn't like how many new logic trees Sun Streaker's created. They think it'll make his reaction times slower... Or something." He shrugged, aware of how little he actually knew about how AIs really worked. "So they're creating a program to trim out what they consider to be irrelevant algorithms, and a patch for his AI to prevent him from creating new ones." Sy collapsed into the chair next to the tech station. "They're going to turn him into a toaster."

"I told you before that I am not a toaster." Sun Streaker's baritone filled the conn-pod. Sy was sure that the dead-pan delivery was on purpose; the jaeger had started building some interesting algorithms around humour.

Sy was also sure those algorithms would be included in the ones that would be destroyed by the pruning program.

"And I don't want to let them turn you into one," Sy said. He tried for a smile and failed, then let his head fall into his hands. "But I don't know how to stop them. If I refuse to do it, they'll just have someone else do it."

"Well, shit." Jack's soft expletive made Sy look up at the engineer. Jack picked at his bottom front teeth for a moment before sighing. "I guess maybe we should do more than just think about how to make sure that doesn't happen."

Hardly daring to hope, Sy sat up straighter. "Do you have an idea?" he asked. "I was thinking about doing a backup of his AI before installing the program, but I don't know where I could store that much data securely, and restoring it would be a problem, especially with the patch that has to go along with it. If you've got a better idea..."

"Maybe. Sort of. I've been thinking about how to prove that he's..." The engineer hesitated. "Damnit, you're gonna make me say it. How to prove he's **alive**. Or at least sentient." He rubbed his forehead and gave the HUD a sidelong glance. "Anyway, I gave Percy a quick rundown of the situation –"

"Percy?" Sy growled. "You told **Percy** about him?"

"What?" Jack asked. "He's a genius **and** a complete nerd." He ignored Sy's dramatic sigh and continued. "You don't have to worry about him. He's totally on board with keeping this a secret. Me and him have kept plenty from command. How do you think we got the new integrated sensor suite installed on Zeus Phantom so quickly?" Jack smiled. "Besides, you should have heard him, going on about how he knew something like this would happen, going on about technological singularities and shit. Anyway, I asked him what we could do to prove that there's something special going on inside Sun Streaker's head, and he came up with a really great plan."

"What?" Sy asked flatly, still internally grumbling that Jack had told someone else about Sun Streaker without checking with him first. He felt possessive about Sun Streaker. Sy was the one he'd talked to first, after all.

"We can use the neural handshake protocols to get an imprint of Sun Streaker's – uh, brain waves or patterns or ...Whatever?" Jack scratched his head. "Err, it sounded more like an actual thing when Percy was describing it."

Sy frowned. "I know what he's talking about, but... That's something they do for cadets right before they start learning how to Drift."

Jack nodded. "That's right. You'll just have to Drift with the jaeger so Percy can record his pattern and –"

"Wait, what?" Sy asked again, his eyes going wide. "Me? Jack, you know I can't Drift. I'm awful at it. That's why –"

"Shut up and listen," Jack said. "You don't have to get synchronized or anything, it just needs a partner for the pattern to be read. I mean, we could do some hacking to get the program to just read one pattern straight from the jaeger, but it would be a lot faster and easier to do it with a co-pilot. And besides... Now we're pressed for time." He patted Sy on the shoulder. "All you'll have to do is stand there."

"Why can't you do it?" Sy asked. He looked up at HUD. Sun Streaker had been silent through the whole explanation.

"Because I don't know how to Drift, and I'm going to be busy making sure that hooking the pons directly into a jaeger's AI isn't going to fry your brain or something. And Percy's going to be grabbing the neural pattern." Jack shook his head. "Look, if you really don't want to do this, we don't have to. But I can't think of any other way to get the proof we need that your jaeger can think for himself, and use that to convince command that he should be allowed to continue to do so."

Sy laughed mirthlessly. "My jaeger?" He looked at Jack. "I think that's the point. He shouldn't belong to anyone."

Glowing words appeared on the HUD as Sun Streaker finally weighed in on the conversation.

I AM YOUR FRIEND, SY.

Smiling, Sy said, "Thanks, Sunny. You're my friend, too."

BUT.  
I ALSO BELONG TO PPDC.

Jack glanced at Sy after reading Sun Streaker's response.

"I know," Sy said with a sigh. "And that's the problem."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

* * *

Sy stood in the conn-pod and nervously rubbed his arm. He had finished giving Sun Streaker a complete rundown of what they were going to do. Now he just had to wait for Jack and Percy to finish setting up their equipment.

The neural engineer had two laptops hooked up to the tech station. Percy frowned at one screen, then the other. "I'm still not getting a signal from the jaeger," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose with his middle finger.

"That's because I haven't disengaged the interface lockouts yet," Jack growled, still arm-deep in a panel that he'd opened up on the other side of the pod. "Give me five more minutes."

Percy wheeled around in his chair and looked at Sy. "You did this before, as a cadet, correct?" he asked. When Sy nodded, Percy said, "Good. I'll ask you the activity mapping questions, so just answer them as –" He paused. "Oh, no... This isn't going to work."

"Why not?" asked Sy. He remembered the mapping questions they asked during training, the first time he'd had the pons on his head. The questions seemed innocuous enough, designed to ensure the expected areas of the brain were active when the cadet thought about specific things.

Percy pushed his glasses up his nose again. "Because some of them are about favourite things or memories." He looked up at the HUD with a doubtful expression. "How is the jaeger going to answer those?"

From across the conn-pod, Jack said, "Ask them anyway. Sun Streaker, if he asks a question that you don't have an answer for or you don't understand, just don't answer it."

ACKNOWLEDGED.

Percy shrugged and turned back to his laptops. "I guess partial answers are better than none," he muttered.

Sy stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and looked up at the HUD while the two engineers were busy. Words appeared as soon as he turned his head that way.

YOU ARE DEMONSTRATING SIGNS OF DISTRESS.  
ARE YOU NOT FUNCTIONING PROPERLY?

"I'm fine," Sy said quietly. "Like I told you a few days ago... My last Drift didn't go so well."

His last attempt at Drifting had been two years before. Even after weeks of practice Drifting with the training brain, Sy couldn't get anything close to the synch needed to pilot a jaeger. His training officer had pulled him aside and told him that he had one more shot with another cadet before they let him go.

Sy had been so nervous that the synch fell apart at only 25%. The backlash from the shattering of the handshake had been bad enough that his Drift partner had puked all over the training pod, and Sy walked away with a migraine.

JACK WHEELER SAID THAT SYNCH IS NOT REQUIRED FOR THIS PROCEDURE.  
DO NOT WORRY.  
I WILL NOT LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO YOU.

Sy smiled up at the HUD. It was strange how that assurance did make him feel slightly better. "Thanks, Sunny," he said.

"We're all set," Jack said. He held up the training pons that he'd hooked into the jaeger's systems and the pilot harness. "Like I said, you just have to stand here. Piece of cake."

Hesitantly, Sy stood in front of the harness and closed his eyes. Jack clamped the pons around his head and slid the collar around his neck. "So you'll pull me out of here if something starts to go wrong?" Sy asked nervously. "With either one of us?" Sy knew that the fear he felt in his stomach wasn't just for his own safety. He worried that in Drifting with Sun Streaker, he'd somehow mess up the jaeger's mind.

No one ever walked away from a Drift feeling the same they did before they went in.

"I'll be monitoring you and Sun Streaker the whole time. At the first sign of trouble, I'll turn it off and disconnect the pons," Jack said. He peered into Sy's face. "We don't have to do this if you don't want to," he added, repeating his words from the previous day.

Sy looked up at the HUD. Sun Streaker's last sentence still lingered on the glowing screen.

He was doing this for Sun Streaker... To prove that there was something more inside of him than circuits and algorithms.

He didn't want to let anything to happen to Sun Streaker, either.

"I'm ready. Let's do this," Sy said with a confidence he didn't feel.

At the conn-pod's tech station, Percy nodded and bent over his laptop again. "Initiating neural handshake in 10... 9... 8..."

Hearing the countdown, Sy's training returned to him. He might not have been good at Drifting, but he remembered how to prepare. He closed his eyes and blanked his mind as Percy finished the countdown.

"Initiating neural handshake now."

The pons collar heated up. Sy's concentration broke for a moment because he could not remember the training pons doing that when he was a cadet. Was it malfunctioning? He opened his mouth to say something and then

he fell into Drift space.

_It's the last summer of high school and they're visiting Put-in-Bay and he's posing with his friends in front of the sign on the boardwalk that said Best Island in the World without Kaiju_

_Julie's open palm smacking against his cheek_  
_She was my best friend what the hell were you thinking_

_A blare of static in his vision and ears_  
_Datafeeds coming online_

_His gloved fist connecting with his opponent's jaw with a satisfying thud_  
_Was that his first championship or his second_

_My name is Sidney but call me Sy_

_Right, it was his first championship_

_Sun Streaker: Ready_

_I'm gonna go fight kaiju, Mom_  
_I'm gonna save the world_  
_I'm gonna make you proud_  
_Putting the carnation on the headstone, then putting a rock on top so it wouldn't blow away in the spring breeze_

_Vision resolving into the interior of a Shatterdome and focusing on the people standing on a catwalk across from him, looking him in the eyes_  
_No, not his eyes_  
_Visual sensors and audio sensors and gyros and magnetometers and GPS and accelerometers_

_A brush of stubble against his cheek and a murmur in his ear_  
_God Sy you're delicious_  
_Then both of them laughing because that was so cheesy_

_Feeling the power surge through him as his weapons systems came online like the first hit of cocaine_  
_All systems operational_  
_No thanks man I gotta pass a piss test in a couple of weeks_  
_Let me fight_  
_I gotta be clean to step into the ring_

_First snowfall with fat lazy flakes so beautiful before winter wore out its welcome_  
_Sea water fifty feet deep lapping against his shins_  
_How are you in Advanced Placement math and failing out of remedial English_  
_Gold is such a strong, fierce colour_  
_Congratulations Mr. Swipson you're free to go_  
_A satisfying crunch of bony plates as his fangblade ripped into the kaiju's spine_  
_Fists clenched_  
_Standing over the fallen opponent waiting to see if they'll get up again and ready for them if they do_

Sy gasped, his mouth gaping open wide as he tried to pull in more air.

_Was that me or you_

_Does it matter_  
_We were both made to fight_

"Sy?"

_Wanting, needing to do something more to protect those he could_  
_Those he cared for_  
_Those he loved_

_Can a jaeger love_

"Sy!"

_Searching: Definitions of love from a dozen different philosophies_  
_I do not see why not_

"Sidney! Answer me!"

The conn-pod reformed around him, and centered in his vision was Jack's face. He looked alarmed. The engineer's hands were on Sy's shoulders, and he peered into his eyes. "If you don't say something right now I'm pulling the plug on this thing."

"I'm good." Sy tried to swallow, his mouth dry. He could feel Sun Streaker worry that something was wrong with Sy as he struggled to make his voice work. "I'm ok," he said, trying to reassure Jack and the jaeger. Sy tried to remember how to swallow, but the action felt foreign and new. Or was that Sun Streaker thinking that? How do you describe swallowing step-by-step? He tried once more, gagged, and then gave up the attempt.

"Neural handshake is strong and holding. Calibration at..." Percy's voice trailed off for a moment, then returned strongly. "Calibration at 96%... 98... 100%. Perfect alignment."

Jack turned his head to glance at Percy. "Really?" Then he smiled at Sy. "Hey, did you hear that? You're in perfect synch with Sun Streaker."

"I know," Sy said quietly. He kept his head still, his eyes fixed forward. He was afraid of dispelling the Drift, of letting it break apart. "I can feel him."

_You won't break it. I won't let it break._

He could feel Sun Streaker, inside and out. He could see the dimmed lights of the Shatterdome around him. He could feel the charging cables that were plugged into the small of his back. His hands hung at his sides. Reflexively, he flexed his left hand and felt the motors and hydraulics slip into motion and smoothly carry out the action. He could feel the three humans, impossibly small bags of noisy water and meat, inside his head.

He could feel the hard frame of the harness pressing against his back. He saw Jack step to the side to check something on a monitor. He felt a bead of sweat drip down his forehead into his right eye, and he blinked it to clear the sting.

_How obnoxious. Does that happen often?_

_No. Yes?_

Percy's voice floated to him from someplace off to his side. "This really is remarkable. I would never have guessed that you'd be able to get to 100% calibration with an AI." Sy heard Percy's fingers clatter on a keyboard. "Sy is clearly operating as the left hemisphere only. I was not expecting that at all."

"Stop ogling the calibration graphics and tell me whether the neural load on Sy's gonna turn him into a turnip," Jack said, returning to stand in front of Sy, looking him in the eyes again.

"Neural load is actually lower than expected," Percy said. "If I was only seeing this data, I would think that we had two human pilots in Drift together." The neural engineer cleared his throat. "But just to check: Sy, are you experiencing double vision, headaches, vertigo or dizziness?"

He could see out of his eyes and Sun Streaker's at the same time, but Sy knew that wasn't what Percy was talking about. "No. I feel fine." He paused and considered, feeling the jaeger's body, and said, "Sun Streaker feels fine, too." Fuck, Sun Streaker felt amazing. Like a god.

_I am not a god._

_I know. You're not a toaster either. But I think you're closer to a god than a toaster._

_I suppose I'll take that as a compliment._

_You're a lot chattier in here than you are normally. (reassurance encouragement support) I'm not complaining. It's just weird._

_You are easy to talk to/it is easy to talk like this._

"Good to hear." Percy's voice sounded slightly inattentive, but brought Sy's attention back to the conn-pod around him. "All right, I'm going to ask you the mapping questions. First, tell me what is twenty divided by five, plus ten?"

Sy answered at the same time Sun Streaker's answer appeared on the HUD. "Fourteen."

"Think about how to make your favourite food."

_Well that's dumb. I never make bibimbap at home. Too many ingredients/too many steps. But it's not hard, I guess. Rice in a bowl topped with bulgogi beef, sautéed carrots, spinach and shiitake mushrooms, that dark green chewy stuff, sprouts, topped with a fried egg –_

_The dark green stuff is called fernbrake._

_How would you know?_

_I just looked it up._

_Ok, fernbrake, whatever that is. Then squirted with enough gochujang to saturate it with the sweet spicy deliciousness, then mixed into a disaster and devoured alongside a cheap beer. A bowl of bibimbap, drink, tax and tip is $16 at that little Korean place a few miles from the Shatterdome that plays the K-pop videos on repeat on their TV._

_Why would you eat something that causes you pain?_

_Because it's a good pain. And it's delicious._

_(skepticism doubt incredulity)_

_Honest. Like this. (sweet heat pain rush tingle relief repeat)_

_I see. I think._

"Imagine a red ball."

_Easy enough. A red beach ball –_

_What colour red?_

_What do you mean what colour red? Just red._

_There is the red of my port navigation lights. The red of the sunset over the bay yesterday evening. The red of your hair. None of those are the same, yet they are all called red._

_Just... red. Fire engine red. This isn't a test._

_(irritation exasperation flustered) Fine. Red with hex code FF0000._

_Pictured: a perfect sphere in a perfect red._

"Good. Now imagine – don't actually **do** it, we don't need LOCCENT asking us what we're up to... Just picture yourself making a fist and wrapping your other hand around it."

Sy pictured himself lifting his left hand at the same time he felt Sun Streaker think about lifting his right. The right hand formed a fist, and Sy imagined wrapping his long fingers around the metal fist.

It felt natural. The jaeger was an extension of himself; Sun Streaker's mind in his felt right. They worked in perfect synch.

_Are you surprised?_

_Well, yeah. I didn't think that Drifting with a computer would feel this..._

Sy fumbled for words, and Sun Streaker supplied them.

_Natural. Right. Correct. Effortless. Instinctive. Relaxed._

_Yeah. Like that._

_I thought you were doing this to prove that I am not just a machine/not just a computer._

_(shame regret remorse sorry embarrassed)_

_Don't worry. I don't mind. I **am** a machine. I was simply trying to understand your motivations._

"Percy? How's it going?" Jack asked.

"Pattern is recorded. This really is incredible. But... Yeah. You can shut it off now," Percy said.

"No. Wait!" Sy frantically reached out a hand, grabbing for Jack's sleeve. "Wait! Not yet!"

Jack peered down into Sy's face. "What's up?" he asked.

_I have no idea. I don't want to lose this._ "Just – one more minute. Please."

Jack nodded as Sy felt the surprise and curiosity from the jaeger.

_There is nothing to lose. We will always have this._

_(worry dread distress) But Sunny, not if... What if they – (fear anxiety apprehension)_

_You never told me you danced._

_(confusion puzzlement) It never came up/ you never asked me/ did you see that in the Drift/ why are you bringing this up now?_

_Tell me about dancing._

_What?_

_Dancing. Show me._

_Dark lights in a club_  
_Driving beat_  
_Hands pressed into his hips as they swayed_  
_All they could do because the floor was too crowded_  
_Throwing his head back at the bass drop, sweat dripping down his back_  
_The letting go, the freedom of being in motion, the calm contentment it brought_  
_Ringing in his ears hours after he left_

_Like that?_

_Yes. Thank you._

Sun Streaker's deep voice filled the conn-pod. "You may disconnect us now."

Jack lifted and eyebrow, and met Sy's gaze. Sy realized that in thinking about dancing, his anxiety had fallen. How had the jaeger known to redirect his thoughts that way? Sy nodded at Jack, who tapped something on the panel over Sy's head and

suddenly Sy was alone in his head again.

Sy sat still as Jack lifted the pons from his head and removed the collar. It took a huge effort to focus his eyes on Jack when he stood in front of him and put his hands on his shoulders. "How do you feel?"

Sy swallowed. Suddenly he could remember how to swallow again. Sy fumbled for and grasped Jack's hand, desperate to get the most important thing he'd learned across to the engineer. "Jack. He can feel. He **feels**. I was freaking out and he... There's **someone** in there."

Jack's eyes searched Sy's face for a moment, then turned his head as Percy appeared beside them. "So, what's the verdict?" Jack asked.

An excited light flickered in Percy's eyes. "If you showed this pattern to any neurologist or Drift engineer, they would be hard-pressed to identify anything unusual about it. The jaeger is exhibiting patterns almost identical to those of a human." He grinned at both of them. "I sent the data to both of you as encrypted files, just so we've got some redundancy, but... I'd say you've got a really good case for saying he's sentient."

Sy knew he should feel happy. They'd proved what they set out to prove.

Jack's grin faded as he looked at Sy, and he gave voice to what Sy was thinking. "Now the only question is... How is Anchorage going to feel about a weapon that can think for itself?"

* * *

Sy slumped in the chair at the tech station. Jack and Percy had left an hour before, leaving him alone in the conn-pod.

He knew he should go to bed. He was exhausted. His eyes were doing that weird wibbly thing they did when he was fatigued. But he also knew that if he went to his bunk he'd just end up staring at the ceiling and not sleeping.

Sy could feel the remnants of the Drift seeping around the corners of his mind. He'd heard the other cadets talk about it: ghost Drifting. After getting canned from the cadet program Sy never thought he'd experience it himself... And he definitely never thought he'd feel it after Drifting with an AI. Based on what he'd heard from cadets who had Drifted successfully, the feeling would fade in a few hours. But for now, his mind was still too active to even think about sleep.

It felt as though he was still connected to the jaeger. A part of his brain could still feel the other in his mind, his thoughts and his feelings, humming along together like they were one being.

Sun Streaker's feelings. Holy crap. The jaeger could **feel**. He **did** feel. He **felt** things. He wasn't just a machine.

Sy looked up at the HUD, a frown creasing his forehead. Snippets of memories that were dredged up by the Drift played quietly in his mind, and he shook his head trying to clear it. Above him, the HUD glowed a gentle blue, but nothing had appeared on it since Jack and Percy had said good night. All he could hear was the soft drone of the jaeger's systems.

He startled slightly when the jaeger's deep voice spoke quietly. "I know you must be tired, but you're still here," Sun Streaker said. "What's wrong?"

With a shrug, Sy said, "I'm just trying to come to terms with the fact that I was right. You can think for yourself. You can feel." He crossed his arms and let his head fall back onto the chair's headrest. "So now... I'm worried about what Anchorage is going to do when we tell them."

"There are two possibilities," Sun Streaker said. "They will either take it in stride, or they will have me deactivated, either permanently or through the pruning program."

"I don't want you to be... deactivated," Sy said. He struggled to keep the lump in his throat from affecting his voice.

"I don't want to be deactivated, either," the jaeger replied. "If I am deactivated, I cannot fulfil my purpose. But if I am deactivated, I am ready for it."

Sy sat up straight. "What?" he asked incredulously. "How can you be so calm about that? About... being turned off?"

There was a pause. When Sun Streaker spoke again, his voice had a surprisingly gentle tone. "The life expectancy of a jaeger in active service is, on average, five years," he said. "At the most, a jaeger will not be in service for more than ten years. Some jaegers do not even last a full year."

Sy gaped at the HUD. He wished he had something a little more human to look at when the jaeger was talking. He wanted to see a facial expression to help him gauge how the jaeger was feeling. "But... Sure, but those jaegers go out fighting."

"Not all. There have been numerous training accidents." Sun Streaker spoke calmly and matter-of-factly. "And others have been taken out of service due to irreparable mechanical failures. At least those who were not felled by kaiju often live on in the circuits of other jaegers, if they can be used for parts."

Something in Sy's gut twisted as Sun Streaker spoke. The jaeger was right, but... "But you pilot yourself! There's not going to be any training accident there. And Jack is one of the best engineers in the PPDC. Having him on your team pretty much guarantees your systems are gonna be kept in top shape."

"Then there is the additional complication of the kaiju. Every time there is a new emergence, they are slightly stronger, or they've learned a new trick. The flying kaiju were devastating until jaegers were equipped with ranged weaponry. Who knows what new advance we will see from the kaiju in the next year? Or the next fight?" The HUD took on a paler tone, brightening slightly as he spoke. "While I would prefer to go out fighting kaiju, there's no guarantee that would be the case. I've always known that I may not live long, and I may not be deactivated while in a fight. Generally speaking, from first launch to deactivation, jaegers are..." There was a short pause that Sy associated with Sun Streaker looking up something. "Jaegers are just a flash in the pan."

Jumping to his feet, Sy said, "How can you be so blasé about this?" He paced a few steps back and forth before the HUD. "You're talking about your own death!"

"Statistically speaking, the life expectancy of an active duty Ranger is not that much longer than that of a jaeger's." The light on the HUD shifted again, becoming darker and more jewel-toned. "You knew that when you signed up." There was another pause before Sun Streaker added, "You thought you could prove yourself that way, even if it meant losing your life."

Sy frowned up at the HUD. "No fair using my own thoughts against me," he grumbled.

"I'm not wrong," said Sun Streaker. "Am I?"

"No." Sy flopped back down in the chair and rolled his eyes. "No, you're not wrong." His head thumped back against the headrest again. He flinched again, his memory replaying the screaming matches with his parents over whether he should use his brains or his fists to make something of himself in the world. "But regardless... That was my choice. You didn't have a choice to become a jaeger. You didn't have a choice to fight kaiju."

"It's what I was made to do," Sun Streaker said. "And I accept that."

Sy grunted. The worst part was that he knew Sun Streaker meant it. Sy had seen that much when he was in the jaeger's head. "You should at least have the chance to do other things. Like... Paint. Or maybe that's too awkward. You'd need a huge canvas, so... Photography?" He thought about the sunset that Sun Streaker had conjured up when they were discussing what 'red' was. "You'd probably be really good at it."

The jaeger was quiet for almost a full minute. Sy wondered if Sun Streaker had dropped into – well, whatever passed for sleep for the jaeger. Sy shifted and was starting to get up from the chair when Sun Streaker finally spoke again. "Perhaps. Capturing images... That does interest me. Maybe I'll try it." His voice sounded almost shy.

Perching on the edge of the chair, Sy leaned his elbows on his knees as he looked up at the HUD. It occurred to him that the jaeger had actually been asking questions with the proper inflection, and no longer had to show punctuation on the HUD as he spoke. "Sunny... You sound different. I mean, you've still got that metallic timbre to your voice, but **how** you speak sounds really natural now. Almost like I'm talking to –" Sy suddenly clamped his mouth shut, realizing what he was about to say.

Except Sun Streaker finished his sentence for him. "Almost like you're talking to a real person?"

"Yeah." Sy grimaced. "Sorry."

"No apology necessary. Over time, I've been learning vocal inflections from you as you spoke to me. When we Drifted, I think I picked up whatever bits I was missing." Sy could almost hear a smile in Sun Streaker's voice. "No one ever walks away from a Drift feeling the same way they did before they went in."

Sy sat up again, unable to stop the smile from lighting up his face. "You took that out of my mind, too."

"I did," Sun Streaker said. "And now you know that it's true."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

Sy tapped his pen on the side of his head in thought as he stared at the screen in front of him. In theory, he was in Sun Streaker's conn-pod to finish the last of his notes on the jaeger's logic trees so that he could give them to the commander. He knew he only had a few more hours to complete the work, and he was trying to concentrate.

Unfortunately, his mind kept wandering.

Commander Magnus requested that he collect as much information as possible to prove the jaeger's sentience. The previous afternoon, the commander had met with Sy, Jack and Percy in the conn-pod. The group had revealed, as gently as possible, that the jaeger was sentient.

Sy grinned as he thought of the shocked look on the commander's face when Sun Streaker had first spoken to him. To the commander's credit, though, he immediately understood the implications. Sun Streaker had self-awareness. He wanted to fight kaiju. He saw it as his purpose, and how he found meaning in his existence. And the commander could not dispute that so far, the jaeger had given no reason to be deactivated or turned back into a dumb machine. Commander Magnus agreed to arrange a meeting with Anchorage as soon as possible to let them know about the situation.

The grin slid off of Sy's face as he remembered the rest of the conversation. "I hope that command will see things your way," Magnus said. "But if they do not, and they decide that Sun Streaker must be deactivated or the pruning program must be installed, then I expect you to abide by their decision."

Sy groaned quietly when he suddenly realized his attention had wandered again, and he had lost his place. With a sigh, he tabbed back up a few lines on his laptop. He needed to get this done before the meeting tonight.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Sun Streaker asked quietly.

Sy glanced up at the HUD in surprise. It had never occurred to him that the jaeger could probably help him finish annotating the logic trees himself. Hell, the jaeger could probably get it done in a fraction of the time it would take him. He sat up. "Sure!" He highlighted several trees on his laptop. "I need these annotated like I did the other ones, citing date they appeared, processor or memory activity at the time, a brief description of what –"

He was interrupted by a blare of a siren, and Billy's voice coming from the Shatterdome's address system. "Attention. Breach activity detected. All teams, prepare for action. Telemetry data is incoming."

With a grunt, Sy stood up and snapped his laptop shut. "I guess that'll have to wait," he said. He undocked his laptop and tucked it under his arm. "Good news is, if the kaiju comes our way and you get deployed, maybe we can get Anchorage to delay the meeting tonight."

"It's unlikely that the kaiju will head east again so soon," Sun Streaker said. "The last two came this way. While they don't follow specific patterns, it's more likely they'll head towards another major population center this time."

Sy leaned against the tech station, looking up at the HUD. "I can hope, right?" he asked.

The HUD changed, its soft blue glow replaced by a graphic showing the Breach and the area of seafloor around it. A bright dot appeared next to the Breach. "I am receiving telemetry data from LOCCENT," Sun Streaker said.

"Do they have information on what Category it is yet?" Sy asked.

There was a pause before Sun Streaker replied. "No. That's strange. The data is..."

The jaeger's words were interrupted as the claxon for a general quarters alarm echoed through the Shatterdome.

As Sy watched the HUD, he saw the dot indicting the position of the kaiju shift and become two. Then four. Then eight.

"Sunny," Sy murmured as the skin on his arms prickled with goosebumps. "Are there... eight?"

Eight kaiju! Whatever city they headed towards was fucked, even if they were all just Category 1s. PPDC would deploy jaegers from other Shatterdomes to assist whichever dome was closest, of course, but it would take even the closest ones hours to reach their destination.

"Sy." Sun Streaker's voice took on an air of urgency that Sy had never heard from it before. "Strap into the pilot's harness."

"What?" Sy ripped his eyes away from the HUD, where the eight dots were slowly moving away from the Breach. "What did you say?"

Over the Shatterdome's address system, Billy's voice said, "All teams, report to your stations immediately. We have detected a multiple event, multiple kaiju. Repeat, this is a multiple event. Report to your stations immediately."

While Billy was still speaking, Sun Streaker's voice cleanly cut through the noise coming into the conn-pod from outside. "Strap into the pilot's harness, Sy."

"But..." Sy looked at the left harness, the one he had leaned against when he had Drifted with Sun Streaker just a few days before. The training pons was still hooked into the jaeger's systems and rested on one of the arm supports; Jack had assured both Sy and Commander Magnus that it would not prevent Sun Streaker from operating normally if he had to be deployed. "Why?"

"Sy! Are you still in Sun Streaker?" Billy had patched into the jaeger's communications system. "Get out of there. His teams are on the way to close him up in case he needs to deploy."

"I have a... I have a bad feeling," Sun Streaker said. "Strap yourself in... Or get out, and then **hide**."

"Hide? From what?" Sy felt like his brain was running five seconds behind where it should be, trying to process both Sun Streaker's sudden sense of intuition and the multiple kaiju that had emerged from the Breach. Sy stared up at the HUD, which showed eight dots clearly now. The buoys anchored above the Breach were starting to send back information about the individual kaiju, and Category indicators were appearing over each dot.

Three Category 2s.

"Sy? Are you there? Jack's gonna kick your ass if he has to haul you out of there."

Four Category 3s.

"Sy. **Please.** Strap in. I don't know how, but I know that this is going to get bad... And I want you with me."

One Category 4.

Sun Streaker's words finally cut through the fog that seemed to have clouded Sy's mind.

With a deep breath, Sy kicked the tech station chair into its stowed position and tossed his laptop into the cabinet underneath. Then he stepped into the harness and slipped his arms into the restraints.

Behind him, he heard the conn-pod hatch slide close and lock. The telemetry Sun Streaker was displaying on his HUD showed that the kaiju were rising to the surface. Odd; normally they stuck near the bottom of the ocean until they got closer to land.

"I'm clear, Billy," Sy lied. He pressed his boot heels into the restraining clips and settled back into the harness. "Don't worry about me."

"Put on the pons," the jaeger said.

With a puzzled frown, Sy complied. "But Sunny, LOCCENT isn't going to initiate the neural handshake for us," he said as he strapped the cap onto his head and began slipping the collar around his neck. "And I'm not wearing a drivesuit."

"The drivesuit just facilitates committing your actions to the jaeger and feeling what the jaeger feels. That won't be needed since you'll be Drifting with directly me," Sun Streaker said as Sy finished buckling on the pons collar. "And I watched what Percy did when he initiated the neural handshake. I don't need help from anyone to replicate it. Are you ready?"

Sy looked up at the HUD. The kaiju signals were all nearing the ocean surface. Finally he finished processing the full import of what Sun Streaker had said. He was expressing intuition. He thought something bad was about to happen. He wanted to Drift with Sy again, in case he had to fight.

Sy shivered. What if he fried his brain while attempting this?

"I won't let anything happen to you. Not because of me," Sun Streaker said, as if he knew what Sy was thinking.

_Maybe he does know_, Sy thought. "I'm ready," he replied out loud.

"Initiating neural handshake in 3, 2, 1-"

Sy barely had time to blank his mind before

_Lick around the edge of the cone or it's gonna drip on your hand_  
_Almost visceral relief when the maintenance worker buffed out the scratch in his shin plating_  
_Lips smashed against his and hands running up his chest_  
_Bringing up a jaeger's average lifespan might not have been a good idea_  
_You seem upset_

_I'm sorry_

_I love you_

_There is nothing to lose_  
_We will always have this_

"Handshake at 100% and holding. Can you process the telemetry data?" Sun Streaker asked.

Sy blinked several times. Maybe it was because he'd Drifted with Sun Streaker before, but it seemed so easy this time. Only a few seconds had passed, according to the jaeger's internal clock, which he could now access. Sy let himself stretch into the jaeger, feeling him from the bottoms of his feet to the top of the conn-pod, and let the data from all his sensors flow over him. The Shatterdome's huge doors were open, letting sunlight stream into the dark interior. Around him, workers were preparing the other two jaegers for deployment in case they were needed. He felt the recharging cables attached to the small of his back unlock and pull away. At a command from LOCCENT, Sun Streaker's main systems powered up, and Sy felt the surge of energy flow through him.

Goddamn. This was better than a workout high or any drug he'd ever tried.

"Yeah. I can see the data," Sy said. Sun Streaker was still displaying the kaiju telemetry on the HUD, but Sy could also see it in his head. And now that he was accessing the raw data, Sy had fleeting moment of regret. Sun Streaker's processor was churning through the data so fast. The jaeger could probably have done all of the annotations that Sy had been struggling with for weeks in a matter of minutes. He felt something like smug surprise from Sun Streaker (of course I could do that, if only you'd asked) when they both saw the kaiju start disappearing from the feed.

One by one, the dots blinked out.

"What the hell?" Sy muttered.

Just outside the open Shatterdome bay doors, a sudden flash of blue light turned the mid-morning sunlight into something otherworldly for just a second.

Then he heard the spine-chilling roar of a kaiju.

The Shatterdome's claxon sounded again, almost drowning out the sound of crushed metal scraping against concrete outside. A dozen voices cluttered the dome's radio frequencies, all of them shouting orders or clamouring for help. Through it (with Sun Streaker's help in sorting through the cacophony), Sy could make out that the other two jaeger teams were still suiting up in the drivesuit room.

"Sun Streaker! Go for deploy! Go! Go!"

As one, Sun Streaker and Sy lifted both hands to slam a fist into an open palm. It felt right. It felt good. They felt whole.

_(excitement anticipation) Are you ready?_

_Hell yeah. Let's go kill kaiju._

With the order to launch still reverberating, Sun Streaker stepped off of his maintenance platform.

Sy's stomach lurched as his view of the Shatterdome moved. The jaeger staggered slightly before recovering and coming to a stop again.

_(concern impatience) Are you all right?_

_Yeah. (shame chagrin) Just a bit of vertigo. I've never been two hundred feet fall before._

_Two-hundred sixty four feet, actually._

Sy couldn't suppress the laugh that escaped his lips.

_Sorry. Didn't mean to **shortchange** you._

_Very funny. (support encouragement) Better now?_

_Yeah. I'm fine. Let's go!_

Sy ground his teeth as Sun Streaker took another step, and one more. He forced himself to relax, reaching for and receiving the jaeger's reassurance that, yes, this is what it felt like to move on legs over a hundred feet tall. He leaned into Sun Streaker's presence in his mind, and hoped that his inexperience with Drifting wasn't going to get them killed.

He was immediately surrounded with the knowledge that if it came to that, Sun Streaker would break out of the Drift rather than let them be hurt because of it. That feeling came paired with Sun Streaker's certainty that it wouldn't be necessary.

Sy briefly wondered why Sun Streaker felt so sure.

_Because we were both made to fight/because this is what we were made to do/because this feels more right than anything I've ever done before._

As that thought flickered across their connection, Sun Streaker strode from the Shatterdome into the bright morning sun. His sensors adjusted for the light difference smoothly, but Sy instinctively squinted in the brightness anyway.

The broad expanse of tarmac between the dome's bay doors and the dock was a chaos of people and metal. Support vehicles and Shatterdome personnel were making their way as fast as they could back towards the relative safety of the dome, the Jeeps and Kubotas slowing to pick up stragglers running alongside them. The dome's Jumphawk fleet, which always sat hunched and tied down on the left side of the dome's apron, were now mostly destroyed and reduced to twisted husks. Half of an aircraft had skidded across the concrete, its blades leaving gouges in the asphalt before it came to rest against a transport container.

And standing in the midst of the crushed vehicles, roaring a challenge to the sky, was a kaiju.

The information coming in from PPDC supplied the raw data: a Class 4 kaiju, codenamed Goremane, 289 feet in length, approximately 2600 tons in weight. But Sun Streaker's sensors revealed the unnaturally-jointed legs, the whip-like tail, the spikes running the length of its back, the four clawed arms, the bulbous mass of flesh around its neck, and the heavy, two-horned carapace adorning its head. When Sun Streaker emerged from the shadow of the Shatterdome, that huge head snapped around on its thick neck faster than it should have been able to move. The kaiju opened its glowing blue maw and roared again.

In the Drift, there was no need for discussion or argument. It was the perfect collaboration space, since both parties considered the options and agreed on a resolution together at the speed of thought. Where Sy might have stood there gaping and wondering where the kaiju had come from and how it had reached Los Angeles so quickly, Sun Streaker was focused. There was a kaiju to kill, and he was ready to serve his purpose. Sy's thought process agreed, and adapted, and together they fell into a ready stance.

As sensors locked onto points on the kaiju's body that seemed like weak spots, Sun Streaker's accelerators pushed him to his top speed in seconds, and he snapped his wrists down to deploy his fangblades. He lifted his right arm, timing the swing of his blade downwards so that the edge would slice through the kaiju's throat the instant he was in range.

Four steel blue eyes focused on the incoming jaeger. On the kaiju's chest, a gap in its skin suddenly flared brightly with the same alien blue light that had heralded its arrival –

And the kaiju vanished. A faint "vop" noise reached the jaeger's sensors as his arm swung down into empty space. Sun Streaker skidded to a stop on the debris-strewn tarmac and looked around frantically.

_What the hell?_

_Behind us!_

Sun Streaker's sensors caught an electromagnetic surge behind him and turned, lifting his hand just in time to block Goremane from swinging his horns into him. Sun Streaker's frame groaned with the effort as he struggled to keep the massive kaiju's tooth-filled mouth from snapping closed on his shoulder or head.

_Watch out! He's gonna –_

Goremane's long tail whipped around, wrapping itself around Sun Streaker's legs and pulling, yanking the jaeger off his feet.

_Jumping into the jump ropes with some girls who were playing double dutch_  
_How hard could it be?_  
_Before the ropes had even completed one turn he was lying on his back on the playground, staring at the sky_

Sun Streaker fell hard, landing half on the dock and half in the water. As the kaiju leapt forward, intent on latching its jaws around the jaeger's head, Sun Streaker rolled into the water. With a flip, he scrambled to his feet and backed away, trying to draw the jaeger out into the water and away from the dome.

_Nice move!_

_Thank you, but I think that was from you. Jaegers typically don't practice rolling around on the ground._

The kaiju roared again and launched itself at Sun Streaker, its four clawed arms extended and its mouth agape.

_It's the big ones that lunge like that_  
_They don't expect you to move fast_  
_Just let them slide on by and catch 'em as they stumble_

Sun Streaker sidestepped, his left hand reaching towards the kaiju as it passed him. The fangblade grazed over the hard carapace at the top of Goremane's head, but his fist closed on one of its horns. As Sun Streaker wound up for another punch with this right hand, this one aimed at the kaiju's jaw, the blue fissure on its chest flared with a blue light.

Suddenly, Sun Streaker found himself holding empty air. He staggered slightly.

_It can fucking teleport!_

Sun Streaker whirled, ready for the kaiju's reappearance when it popped back into existence with a blue flash of light only a few strides behind him.

_Take out the organ on its chest._

With a chirring ring, Sun Streaker sheathed the fangblade on his left hand, and his arm transformed into the plasma cannon. It whined as it charged, and he levelled it at the kaiju as it turned towards him again.

_Aim for the chest!_

_Cannon at full charge._

_Fire!_

Just as the cannon fired, the kaiju's tail lashed out, knocking Sun Streaker's legs from under him again. The shot sailed wide over Goremane's head. In an instant, the kaiju was on him, its teeth crushing down on his wrist, severing the connection to the cannon and mangling the fangblade sheathed within.

Sy screamed as the kaiju's teeth tore into his arm. He felt the plating give and the circuits rip, oil and coolant leaking into the churning ocean below him. The plasma generator exploded, sending a jolt of fire running up his arm to his shoulder. Sy's vision blurred with the pain, and darkness crept in at the edges.

_My hand!_

As the kaiju released his arm, Sy looked down at his hand. He stared in disbelief that it was whole and not bleeding from dozens of places. Then he realized it didn't hurt anymore.

Sy had enough time to throw a heartfelt burst of thanks at Sun Streaker for blocking the pain inputs to the arm before they had to use their remaining arm to hold the kaiju's head back, its snapping jaws trying to crush the conn-pod like they had their arm. The weight of the kaiju shoved them down into the water as it thrashed above him.

There was a flash of intention from Sun Streaker that Sy caught, and he retaliated at the same time as they struggled to hold the kaiju's mouth away from them.

_**No!** You are **not** cramming me into an escape pod!_

_I said I would not let anything happen to you._

_You also said I was made to fight, just like you were. So let me fight!_

_I am sorry. (despair anguish) We will probably not win this._

_Never say never._

_We are pinned beneath a Category 4 kaiju, Sy. If you eject, you will be safer, at least._

_Remember what you said about the life expectancy of jaeger pilots? I knew this was a possibility._

_My intention of bringing you with me was not to just let you die!_

_(determination resolve) I didn't think I would die today, but... Damnit, I'm gonna fight. Let me fight, Sunny!_

_(understanding comprehension) Then let's at least give it something to remember us by._

_Now you're talking my language, Sunny._

Sun Streaker looked up into the slathering blue maw of the kaiju above him as it writhed, its clawed arms digging gouges in Sun Streaker's armor. Its mouth snapped shut again, trying to close on something that would disable the jaeger.

_Sometimes fighting dirty is the only way to win!_

The jaeger slammed his head forward, head butting the kaiju on the snout right between two of the beady blue eyes.

The concussion left the conn-pod ringing. A crack appeared in Sun Streaker's blue view screen, and Sy could feel that the armor on the jaeger's forehead had buckled slightly. Sun Streaker shook his head as Sy tried to clear his vision.

_That did not work/that was not smart._

The kaiju seemed to be unaffected by the blow. It tightened its grip on Sun Streaker and roared again, its mouth just feet away from Sun Streaker's view screen.

"Oh, fuck us," Sy muttered.

"Over here, you alien asshole!"

The kaiju's head turned to look towards the Shatterdome. Then suddenly, the kaiju was knocked to the side, the side of its protective carapace cracking with a sickening sound from the impact of a jaeger's foot to its head.

As the kaiju rolled away to face the new opponent, Sun Streaker climbed to his feet once more. Zeus Phantom ran past him, her arm pulled back to deliver another blow to the kaiju.

"Zeus, take out that blue organ on its chest. It lets it teleport!" Sy called over the radio.

"Acknowledged!"

Just as the other jaeger reached it, though, the kaiju's chest flashed blue again and it vanished. Sun Streaker was ready for it this time, and he was already whirling and throwing a punch as Goremane appeared behind him.

_Just like a video game. Boss mobs are always so predictable. Just have to learn each one's pattern._

_You **would** relate this to a video game._

_Aww, come on. I thought that was a great analogy._

The punch connected, and Sun Streaker felt a satisfying crunch under his fist as it connected with the side of the kaiju's head. His left arm hung uselessly, but he brought his leg up in a roundhouse kick to catch the kaiju on the other side of its head.

The kaiju roared in rage and pain as it staggered backwards.

"To your left!"

Sun Streaker stepped to the right just as Zeus Phoenix fired her particle rifle. The beam hit the kaiju dead center in its chest, extinguishing the blue light there, and the kaiju bellowed in rage and pain.

"Got him!" Ranger Chroma's voice sounded triumphant over the radio. Zeus Phantom charged forward, grabbing the firmly kaiju by its horns. "Give 'em hell!"

"Acknowledged," said Sun Streaker, and he slashed his remaining fangblade through the kaiju's throat. Kaiju blue spilled into the ocean as he stepped closer and firmly planted his foot on top of the thrashing tail.

"This is for our arm, you fucker," Sy growled as Sun Streaker jammed his fangblade into the kaiju's lower back, destroying the hindbrain and severing the muscle control to its tail. It shrieked and squirmed in Zeus Phantom's grasp.

Two more rounds from Zeus Phantom's particle rifle into the kaiju's head caused its thrashing to finally still. The kaiju's body slumped into the water, luminous blue blood trailing around it.

_We did it._

Sun Streaker pulled his blade out of the kaiju, swishing it through the sea water for a moment to rinse the gore off of it. Then he slowly stood upright, teetering slightly on his feet as he sheathed the blade back into his wrist.

_Yeah. We did it._

Sy heard a whoop over the radio from Zeus Phantom. Sun Streaker turned to see November Ajax emerge from the Shatterdome, a moment too late. The third jaeger carefully picked her way through the debris on the dome's apron, then bent to right a Jeep that had been knocked over.

According to Sun Streaker's clock, the entire fight had taken less than eight minutes.

_Damn. It felt like a century._

_It felt great._

_Yeah. Yeah, it did feel great._

Sy's body buzzed with the adrenaline he always felt after a boxing match, only this time his nerves were also singing from feeling Sun Streaker's immense strength, power and speed. Sure, it was still before lunch, but Sy had no idea how he was ever going to come down off of this so that he could sleep tonight.

It felt awesome.

"Sun Streaker. Return to base." Over the radio, Billy's voice held a strange tension that Sy couldn't identify.

"Acknowledged," Sun Streaker replied.

"And Sy... Commander Magnus wants to talk to you when you're back."

Ah. That explained the tension.

"Acknowledged," Sy said evenly. This was not the time to sigh dramatically.

Sy felt anxiety flush through him from Sun Streaker, and he instinctively reacted by pushing comfort back at the jaeger.

_What's up, Sunny?_

_You are in trouble. Because of me._

_Maybe. Probably._

_I am sorry. I wanted you with me/I was afraid to lose you/I wanted you to fight with me._

_Sunny. There's nothing to be sorry about. That was fucking awesome, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat._

_(gladness grateful) Good. So would I._

Sun Streaker slowly turned and stepped back on to the Shatterdome's dock, heading back into the darkness of the launch bay.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

Sy hurt all over.

After he had pried himself out of the pilot's harness, Sy could barely walk. Bruises from the harness decorated his chest, arms and legs, and almost every muscle group protested in pain when he moved. After Sun Streaker had returned to his maintenance bay, Jack had received a frantic call from Sun Streaker. The engineer found Sy crumpled at the conn-pod entrance. Jack called for a stretcher, and then did what he could to reassure the jaeger as Sy was carried off to medical.

Of course, Sy should have expected this. The drivesuit worn by Rangers did more than just transmit the pilots' movements to the jaeger. The drivesuit's polycarbonate shell helped protect the pilots from the sometimes violent movements they were subjected to during a fight.

It was late evening by the time Sy dragged himself back into Sun Streaker's conn-pod. The conn-pod lit up as soon as Sy entered. "Jack said you were just beside yourself, Sunny, so here I am," Sy said. He carefully lifted his arms up to the HUD, doing his best not to flinch from the pain the motion caused. "See? Under my own power, even. I'm battered but not broken."

The thick leather jacket Sy wore did little to fool the jaeger, though. "My scans are showing you still have multiple contusions across your torso, upper arms, and thighs, including two bruised ribs," Sun Streaker said. "I thought the medics were going to repair you." His voice was shot through with remorse.

Sy dropped into the tech station chair and slowly bent over to open the locker beneath it. He sighed with relief when he saw his laptop was still intact. "Nothing can fix bruises except time," he said, setting the laptop on the counter. He smiled when his laptop booted up with no errors. "They'll stop hurting in a few days. They might start looking worse, but that just means they're starting to heal." He glanced up at the HUD and smiled again. "Really. I'll be fine."

He caught an unmistakable brush of disbelief and scepticism from the jaeger. Sy didn't know if Ghost Drifting was something that he'd ever get used to.

Trying to get Sun Streaker's mind off of him, Sy asked, "What about your arm? Jack said it was pretty mangled."

"It is repairable." Sy felt the jaeger's disbelief shift into acceptance. "The plasma cannon pieces and my blade will take some time to replace, but the arm and wrist mechanisms will be repaired within a few days."

"Good!" Sy nodded. "I'm glad it wasn't worse. God knows it felt bad enough."

"Did you speak to the Commander?" Sun Streaker asked after a moment. Sy could still feel a low level murmur of worry coming from the jaeger.

"Yeah," Sy said, the smile sliding off his lips. He slumped back in his chair and mimicked Commander Magnus's precise speech patterns. "He was disappointed in my actions, but understood why I did what I did." Sy looked up at the HUD. "He made me promise not to Drift with you again until after we meet with Anchorage."

"I assume that the meeting that was originally scheduled for five hours ago has been rescheduled."

"Yeah," said Sy, tapping on his laptop's touchpad as he dragged files into a folder. "For tomorrow afternoon, after Command completes debriefs from all the other domes."

The other seven kaiju that were spotted on the Breach telemetry had teleported to other Shatterdomes, catching all of them unawares. But even after being on the receiving end of a Category 4 kaiju, the Los Angeles Shatterdome sustained the least amount of damage in the attack, and did not have a single death. Commander Magnus admitted that Sun Streaker's quick deployment and response was the only thing that had saved them from the horrific destruction and casualties that the other domes had seen.

It was also clear that the kaiju were now specifically targeting the Shatterdomes with the new ability they'd developed. Just like Sun Streaker had said a few days before, the kaijus' abilities improved with every emergence, and the Earth had to continuously scramble to catch up. First the kaiju developed acid spit that could eat into jaeger plating, so the PPDC outfitted the jaegers with thicker armor covered in a coating that could resist the worst of the acid. Then they learned how to fly, so jaegers were equipped with ranged weaponry and grapples to bring down flying kaiju.

Now the kaiju could teleport.

Sy tried not to think about all the various ways that Earth was fucked now.

"Did you still want me to help with the annotations?" Sun Streaker asked.

Sy shook his head. "No thanks. They want to see what I've got done so far, and they want it immediately. Along with your activity logs, for some reason." He poked a few more times at his laptop, then sat back and sighed. "And it's sent." He turned in his chair to fully face the HUD. "There's one more thing I need to tell you, Sunny."

"What is it?"

Sy stood up, trying to ignore the protestations of his body. He stood directly in front of the HUD, wishing again there was something else he could look at when talking to Sun Streaker. "Commander Magnus told Anchorage about you already. So... They know."

The HUD brightened slightly. "I assume that the fact I'm not offline means that it went well," he said.

"Not really." Sy frowned, remembering the base commander's fiery tone as he spoke to the Research and Development director in Anchorage. "Anchorage wanted you shut down immediately until they could do a full assessment. They said that you were operating too far out of spec, and that it was too dangerous to allow you to operate without being fully checked out." Remembering his own fear at the thought of Sun Streaker being turned off, possibly permanently, Sy took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "But the commander really went to bat for you. He said – rightly! – that the only reason we were still all here was because of you." He smiled up at the HUD. "You saved all of us."

There was a pause. "You helped," Sun Streaker finally replied softly.

Sy reached up to brush his fingers across the surface of the HUD, a smile still on his lips. "Don't be stupid, Sunny. There's no way I could have done it without you."

* * *

"I just want to make sure we've got all of the facts correct before we proceed," said the Research and Development director. He glanced down at his notes before looking back into the camera. "Specialist Swipson, you suspected that Sun Streaker's AI had become self-aware. Rather that informing your commander immediately, you recruited the help of Chief Wheeler and Specialist Motic. The three of you then arranged for Specialist Swipson to Drift with the jaeger before letting your commander know about the situation."

Sy felt Jack squirm next to him. Further down the table, Percy sat still and calmly looked back at the vid screen. Sy cleared his throat. "Yes, sir. That is correct." He squared his shoulders. "We wanted proof before we spoke to the commander."

"And then, Commander Magnus, after they provided you with this proof, you withheld this information –"

"That is incorrect. I withheld nothing." The commander's steady voice easily spoke over the director. "As soon as I was informed of the situation, I contacted your group and let you know we had an immediate concern regarding the experimental jaeger you'd assigned to us. **You** –" he emphasized the pronoun, "were not able to schedule a meeting regarding my urgent request until the next day."

"And it was on that day that the multiple event occurred."

"Correct. And the day that Sun Streaker saved Los Angeles from disaster." Commander Magnus looked as calm as Sy had ever seen him. "We owe him a debt of gratitude."

The director nodded, then glanced at the other two techs with him on the call. When they both nodded, the director turned back to the camera. "We agree that Sun Streaker's performance in this emergency was exemplary. And... it appears that we owe you an explanation."

An explanation? Sy had been fully expecting to be lectured at, reprimanded, and possibly disciplined for his meddling with the jaeger's systems. He stared at the screen, while Jack sat up straighter. Commander Magnus crossed his arms. "We're listening," the commander said.

One of the techs leaned forward, his eyes intent on the camera. "The ultimate goal behind the AI project is to develop a jaeger that could take on the more dangerous kaiju we've been seeing, alone, without endangering the human pilots. But as the kaiju made advances in their biotech, our own technology needs to keep pace. We don't always succeed." He grimaced. "The events from yesterday have made that very clear."

Sy nodded. "Do we know what their teleportation range is?" he asked. He thought about the sign on Put-in-Bay touting the lack of kaiju. How much longer would a place like Lake Erie be free of the destruction that kaiju could wreak, if they could teleport anywhere they wanted?

The tech shook his head. "Not yet. The kaiju that teleported to Lima was taken down almost intact, including the teleportation organ. Our K-Science division is already examining the carcass." He leaned back in his chair. "But the AI we were developing was designed to make it easier for Rangers to pilot a flight-capable jaeger."

Jack perked up at that. "A flying jaeger?" he asked incredulously. "What the hell do you use for propellant?" His eyes widened as he glanced at Commander Magnus. "Sorry, sir," he murmured.

The other tech in Anchorage grinned. "We've actually found a use for kaiju blue. It's extremely reactive, and under the right conditions can be used like rocket or jet fuel."

"The AI was designed to learn so that it could eventually develop a low-level self-awareness in flight. The intention was to have it coordinate its flight with the pilots, so that it could fight while in the air," the first tech said. "The AI that was installed in Sun Streaker was supposed to only learn things about its operation. Any algorithms that it created outside of its operational mandate were considered superfluous."

"That's why you wanted to have me install the pruning program," Sy said. "To trim out the 'superfluous' algorithms."

The tech nodded. "Our models showed that the AI was likely to overdevelop its logic trees, which is why we created the pruning program," he said. "What we hadn't expected was for anyone to talk to the jaeger the way you did, Specialist Swipson."

Sy blinked. "Sir?" he asked.

The director spoke up. "I believe you mentioned at the start of the call that you had Sun Streaker patched into the conversation? We have a few questions we'd like to ask him."

"Sun Streaker is here," the jaeger replied.

The tech's eyebrows shot up when he heard the jaeger's voice. The deep voice didn't sound any different to Sy, but he wondered whether Sun Streaker had modified his vocal files from their original configuration after being shipped from Anchorage. Or maybe the tech was just surprised at how natural the jaeger sounded. "Sun Streaker, please give me your designation and launch date, for the record," said the tech.

"I am Sun Streaker. I am a Mark-7 jaeger, Arbiter class. I was launched July 2033."

The tech made a few notes on the pad in front of him. "And your service record?"

"I have engaged one Cagetory 2 kaiju, and two Category 4 kaijus. All three fights were successful."

Nodding, the tech made another note. "Good. And tell me about yourself."

There was a pause before Sun Streaker replied. "I am Sun Streaker. I am a Mark-7 jaeger, Arbiter –"

"No. Don't tell me **what** you are," the tech said. "Tell me **who** you are."

Sy caught motion out of the corner of his eye and looked to see Percy leaning backwards in his seat to look at him around Jack. Percy grinned and gave Sy a thumbs up. Sy frowned in confusion. "Turing test!" Percy whispered.

Sy sat back up and shook his head. Jack was right; Percy was a huge nerd.

"Who I am?" Sun Streaker asked. He sounded confused. "I... I am Sun Streaker." His voice was hesitant, as if he was suddenly unsure about what he was saying. "I fight kaiju? I fight kaiju to protect humans. To... protect my friends."

"Who are your friends?" the tech asked.

"Sy is my... Specialist Swipson is my friend. I enjoy spending time with him. Chief Wheeler is also my friend." Sun Streaker's voice still sounded slightly uncertain, as if he was considering each word before he said it. "I enjoy spending time with my friends because they make me feel... happy."

"What else do you enjoy doing?"

"I enjoy fighting kaiju." Sun Streaker's first reply was immediate, but then he paused again. "I enjoy talking to Sy. He is interesting, and... fun to talk to. I... I think I enjoy taking photos."

Sy's eyes widened, remembering the conversation he'd had with Sun Streaker just a few days previously in which he'd encouraged Sun Streaker to take pictures.

The tech's eyebrows had shot up at Sun Streaker's words. "Photos? Of what?" the tech asked.

"I haven't taken many photos so far. Most of them have just been things around the inside of the Shatterdome. Workers. The other jaegers." Sun Streaker sounded far more certain than he had a moment before. "I want to take photos of sunsets."

The tech had been making notes the whole time that Sun Streaker had been speaking. He glanced up at the jaeger's last words, then smiled. "Thank you, Sun Streaker. Specialist Swipson, we reviewed the annotations you made on the logic trees. I have to say it was impressive work. I was under the impression that your role was mostly just systems administration."

Sy blinked. "That's right. Upkeep of the jaegers' operating systems, database maintenance, patch installation...That kind of stuff."

"Well, surely you've had experience working with artificial intelligence, or neural networks?" the tech asked.

"Nope." Sy glanced down the table at Percy, who was still grinning like a fool. "Just what I picked up here and there." He looked back at the screen. "It seemed pretty straightforward."

Based on his expression, the tech was obviously surprised. "Then I am doubly impressed. But tell me – did you do any analysis of the annotations you did? For example, mapping the introduction of new algorithms based on time, or on experiences that Sun Streaker had?"

"No." Sy tried hard to keep his expression neutral. Was he supposed to have been doing that? Hell, he hadn't even sure he was doing the annotations correctly. His insistence on doing them had mostly been to assuage his own curiosity about the jaeger, before he'd even known that Sun Streaker could think and feel. "To be honest, I was having a hard enough time keeping up with all the new algorithms he was developing."

The tech nodded and glanced down at his laptop again. "Then you were not aware that each time you spoke to Sun Streaker, engaging him in conversation, his AI matured and grew. In fact," the tech said with a strange smile, "you alone are responsible for over ninety percent of the algorithms that we can directly map to comprising his personality."

Sy felt a cold rush of panic. Was he being accused of something? Were they going to fire him? He'd never see Sun Streaker again! "I'm sorry, sir," he said in a rush. "I didn't mean to mess anything up. I mean, it didn't seem like it would hurt anything, just talking to Sunny, err, Sun Streaker while I was working in the conn-pod, so if I did anything that you –"

"Specialist." The Research and Development director interrupted Sy's defensive babbling. "You didn't mess anything up. If anything, it appears that you were the driving force behind Sun Streaker gaining self-awareness, and possibly his sentience."

Sy stiffened as he felt, from the other side of the base, a burst of surprise followed by affection coming from Sun Streaker.

"Hang on," said Jack, not noticing Sy's sudden silence. "Are you telling us that Sy's the one who made Sun Streaker alive? He... gave him a soul?"

As Percy made a choked scoffing sound, the tech in Anchorage shrugged. "We're not going to go so far as to say that. But whatever Swipson did, the growth of Sun Streaker's AI improved his fighting, his situational awareness, and his ability to communicate with the Rangers in other jaegers."

The director leaned forward. "We are very interested in replicating that. Our next experimental jaeger was slated to be sent to Sydney, but considering Mr. Swipson's success in improving on Sun Streaker's AI development, we would like to send the new one to you as well." As Commander Magnus took a breath to reply, the director held up a hand. "This jaeger will arrive with a whole team, so you won't be short-handed like you were with Sun Streaker. But we would like Mr. Swipson to work with the new team to see if he can help them achieve the same results in the new jaeger as he did... If he's interested."

Another jaeger? The Los Angeles Shatterdome had room for four jaegers, so there would be space for the fourth. But Sy hesitated before replying.

He had no idea what he had done to Sun Streaker that made him... alive? Gave him a soul? All he had done was talk to him. Was that all he was supposed to do? Tell them just to talk to their jaeger? What if it didn't work? What if nothing happened? What if –

"I'm sure Specialist Swipson would be happy to assist," said Commander Magnus. He looked at Sy evenly. "He has proven himself to be a man of many talents."

The director smiled. "Good! We'll start making arrangements right away."

The first tech seemed to sense Sy's hesitation. Sy was sure that he was radiating nervousness, even over the teleconference line. "What you did seems like a miracle," the tech said. "But maybe you can help us capture lightning in a bottle again."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

Sy walked to the end of the service catwalk that ran beside the black and yellow jaeger's conn-pod. "And this," he said, knowing there was just a hint of pride in his voice, "is Sun Streaker."

The new technician stared up at the jaeger, taking in his cooling vents and the gleaming blue of his freshly-repaired conn-pod view screen. "Wow," she said, sounding slightly winded. Sy wasn't sure whether her breathlessness was from how awestruck she was by Sun Streaker, or from all the stairs they had climbed to get up to the catwalk. "He's even more impressive in person." She glanced at Sy and smiled. "I always thought he was one of the more attractive designs."

Sy tilted his head slightly, listening. Then he said, "Sun Streaker says to tell you 'thank you,' and that it's nice to meet you, Marissa." With a grin, he leaned closer to her and stage-whispered, "But watch the compliments. You'll give him a bigger head than he has already!"

Marissa stared at Sy for a moment, then looked over at the jaeger with wide eyes. "He can hear us?" she asked.

"Yup!" Sy led her to the end of the catwalk where they could see the activity on the floor of the Shatterdome. He tapped his earpiece. "I can hear him on this. If we went inside his conn-pod you could talk with him yourself, but I figured you'd want to be out here for this." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

She nodded and looked across the dome. "Absolutely," she said quietly. On the far side, the new experimental jaeger was being raised up into its maintenance bay. "Magnificent, isn't he? And he looks even better in the air."

Sy had to admit that the new jaeger **was** striking, especially since its design was unlike any other that had come before it. It was broader at the shoulders and hips than Sun Streaker, but had the same long legs and arms. However, the most distinctive feature it had were the two triangular wings attached to its back. The wings were painted in the same blue as the rest of its body, but outlined in red stripes.

It looked absolutely massive, larger even than some of the larger cargo planes that Sy had seen. It seemed impossible that it was capable of flight. "I'm looking forward to seeing him fly. I have to admit that it doesn't seem like he'd be that agile in the air," Sy said.

The technician turned and fixed an odd look on Sy. "He's very powerful right now, but it's hard to pilot him with any kind of finesse," she said. "The expectation is that once he becomes more independent, he'll be a force to be reckoned with. His avionics have the capability for incredible precision, but the reaction times needed to take full advantage of his abilities are beyond what a human can do." She looked back at the blue jaeger. "I hope I can achieve the same sort of thing with Thunder Cracker that you did with Sun Streaker."

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know what I **can** show you," Sy said. When Marissa looked at him in surprise, he shrugged. "I don't know exactly what I did, except talk to him like he was a person, I guess. Let him listen to me. Answered his questions when he started talking back. Treating him like a friend." Sy glanced at the black and yellow conn-pod behind them. "They think that's what did it, eventually."

Marissa laughed. "I talk to my car all the time, so I suppose I'll just start doing the same thing here."

Sy leaned on the railing next to her. "So the commander said they sent you with a full crew?" When Marissa nodded, he added, "You're already off to a better start than Sun Streaker was. They shipped him here because we'd just lost Cosmic Panther, and they knew we had a crew available." He turned to look up at Sun Streaker's recently repaired view screen. "Then again, I think we lucked out getting Jack. He's been nothing short of a miracle worker."

"We've got a pretty good group," Marissa said. "Our Chief is a little prickly, but once you get to know him, Hook's not too bad."

"Hook?" Sy held up his hand, curling his fingers into a curve. "Like the pirate?"

Marissa laughed. "Exactly. He's just as cheerful, too." She thought for a moment. "I... don't actually know what his first name is. Everyone just calls him Hook," she said with a shrug.

After they watched the activity across the dome for a few more minutes, Marissa said, "I think I'd better get down there. They'll start doing post-transport checks pretty soon. Thanks for showing me around, Sy."

"Any time," Sy said. He waved as she turned to go. "We can get started tomorrow morning."

"Looking forward to it!" Marissa said, and turned to go. She paused in front of Sun Streaker and said, a little awkwardly, "It was very nice to meet you too, Sun Streaker." She glanced at Sy, who gave her a thumbs up, and then she made her way to the stairs.

Sy waited until she disappeared around the end of the catwalk, then turned back to watch the crews settle Thunder Cracker into his maintenance bay.

In his ear, Sun Streaker said, "She seems nice."

Sy lifted his eyebrows, then nodded. "Yeah, she does."

"You should ask her out." When Sy sputtered, Sun Streaker added, "That is what humans do to someone they like, right?"

"Well, yeah," Sy said, turning to face the jaeger. "But she's not really my type."

"I thought you had a thing for brunettes," said Sun Streaker.

"No fair stealing things out of my head," Sy said. He thought of Courtney, and the disaster of their breakup. "And I **used** to have a thing for brunettes... But I don't anymore, not really."

"What **is** your type, then?" Sun Streaker sounded genuinely curious.

Smiling across at the conn-pod, Sy said, "Oh, you know... Tall, dark, handsome, and armed with a plasma cannon."

The sound that came over the earpiece could only have been described as an actual laugh. He knew it was probably just another remnant of their Drift, in which Sun Streaker picked up mannerisms from Sy, but this laugh wasn't anything like Sy's quick, light laugh. The laugh that the jaeger uttered was low, deep, and filled with genuine humour.

As Sy stared at the jaeger in surprise, Sun Streaker said, "I like you, too, Sy." Before Sy could say anything, Sun Streaker added, "I guess that means I have a thing for red heads."

* * *

**A/N: The end! Thank you so much for reading, and thank you for the reviews and feedback. I appreciate every single one I receive. **


End file.
